TiAl-BASED ALLOYS: PRESENT STATUS AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES

Intermetallic TiAl-based alloys represent an important class of high temperature structural materials providing a unique set of physical and mechanical properties that can lead to substantial payoffs in aircraft engines, industrial gas turbines and automotive industry. The present status and future perspectives of TiAl-based alloys are reviewed from the point of view of alloy design, processing technologies, applications and prospects. Chemical composition, the typical microstructure and some mechanical properties of several generations of TiAl-based alloys are characterized. Several aspects of processing are discussed and the most promising cost-effective casting technology is described in details. Some current applications of TiAl components are summarised before considering some of the challenges still remaining for TiAl-based alloys