METAL 2009 19. – 21. 5.

2009, Hradec nad Moravicí

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TiAl-BASED ALLOYS: PRESENT STATUS AND FUTURE

PERSPECTIVES

Juraj Lapina
a
Institute of Materials and Machine Mechanics, Slovak Academy of Sciences,
Račianska 75, 831 02 Bratislava, Slovak Republic, ummslapi@savba.sk

Abstract
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.

Key words: titanium aluminides, TiAl, microstructure, casting, mechanical properties

1. INTRODUCTION
Titanium aluminides represent an important class of alloys providing a unique set
of physical and mechanical properties that can lead to substantial payoffs in the
automotive industry, power plant turbines and aircraft engines. It took more than 20
years of very intensive research to obtain maturity level of TiAl-based alloys that is
sufficient to consider this class of materials for critical rotating components in
commercial jet engines [1]. The outstanding thermo-physical properties of these
alloys mainly result from strongly ordered structure, which involves: high melting
point, low density of 3.9-4.2 g/cm3, high elastic modulus, low diffusion coefficient,
good structural stability, good resistance against oxidation and corrosion and high
ignition temperature when compared to conventional titanium alloys. Fig. 1 illustrates
temperature dependence of specific strength of various groups of alloys [1].
TiAl-based alloys shows superior specific strength-temperature properties when
compared to classical titanium alloys, steels and nickel based superalloys in the
temperature range from 500 to 900 °C [2, 3]. Table 1 summarises qualitatively the
properties of advanced high temperature alloys for applications in the aircraft
industry. It is clear that the intermetallic TiAl-based alloys exhibit the highest potential
for near term applications in future aircraft engines. Whilst their specific strength is
higher than that of competing materials, the room-temperature ductility is poor and is
typically about 1% for all TiAl-based alloys. Low ductility is the biggest problem in the
application of these alloys as structural components since 1% ductility is generally
accepted as the minimum acceptable level and cast samples in particular seldom
reach even this value. The other major problem is the difficulty in processing to form
a component. In spite of a large effort that has been made over the last two decades
to introduce TiAl-based alloys into the market as engineering components, only few
market applications in the automotive industry have been established. Although

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300

250

Specific strength (MPa.cm /g)

Carbon fibre

3
reinforced plastics
200

150

Titanium alloys
100 TiAl alloys

Aluminium
alloys
50 Single crystal
Steels and superalloys superalloys

0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400

Temperature (K)

Fig. 1. Temperature dependence of specific strength of various groups of alloys [1].

engine testing has been carried out by Rolls-Royce, P&W and GE, no component
made from TiAl-based alloy is in use in any current aero engine.
The aim of the present work is to review chemical composition, microstructure
and some properties of generic TiAl-based alloys, the factors governing alloy
selection and current methods of manufacturing of components for automotive and
turbine gas industry. The factors which at this stage are the most important in limiting
the manufacture of mass market components will be discussed and possible ways
forward will be outlined.

2. ALLOY DESIGN
Nowadays, the intermetallic TiAl alloys of great engineering interest follow the
chemical compositions in the range Ti-(45-48)Al-(1-10)M (at.%), with M being at least
one element from V, Cr, Mn, Nb, Ta, W, and Mo [4]. These alloys can be divided into
single phase γ(TiAl) and two phase γ(TiAl) + α2(Ti3Al) alloys. Single phase γ alloys
contain third alloying elements such as Nb or Ta that promote strengthening and
additionally enhance oxidation resistance. The role of the third alloying elements in
two phase alloys is to raise ductility (V, Cr, Mn), oxidation resistance (Nb, Ta) or
combined properties. Additions such as B and Mg can markedly enhance hot

Table 1. Property profiles of advanced high temperature alloys for jet engines [1]
Near-α Ti Ni based γ TiAl
Density + − ++
Specific tensile strength + − +/−
High-temperature Young’s modulus +/− + ++
Room-temperature ductility + + −
Formability + + −
Creep − ++ ++
Room-temperature fracture toughness + ++ −
Room-temperature crack growth + + −
Specific fatigue strength + − +/−
Oxidation − ++ ++
High-temperature embrittlement +
− +/−

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Fig. 2. Section of the Ti-Al phase Fig. 3. Binary Ti-Al phase diagram
diagram. The arrows indicate the sense (dotted lines) and quasi-binary Ti-Al-Nb
of movement of the phase boundaries for phase diagram of ternary alloys with Nb
ternary alloying additions [14]. concentration of 8 at.% [15].

workability, W and C increase creep resistance and reduction of O enhances room-

temperature tensile elongation. The phase diagram shown in Fig. 2 indicates the
sense of movement of the various phase boundaries caused by alloying additions
with the length of the arrows defining the relative magnitude of the shifts. Clearly if
alloys are to be heat treated the sense and magnitude of these shifts of phase
boundaries are important and this phase boundary shift is probably the most
important role of most alloying additions in TiAl-based alloys. Fig. 3 illustrates an
example of the shift of the phase boundaries by alloying of a binary system with
8 at.% of Nb.
Depending on chemical composition and heat treatments, TiAl-based alloys
exhibit four different types of microstructures: near-gamma, duplex, near lamellar and
fully lamellar microstructure [5, 6]. The fully lamellar or nearly lamellar microstructure,
consisting of the TiAl (γ-phase) and a small volume fraction of Ti3Al (α2-phase),
exhibits better creep resistance (apart from primary creep), higher fracture toughness
and crack propagation resistance than duplex microstructures [7-9]. On the other
hand, higher tensile strength, ductility and longer fatigue life are achieved for an alloy
with duplex microstructure [9]. Since, the largest proportion of usage of TiAl-based
alloys is assumed to be in gas turbine industry creep resistance of such components
is of primary importance and in this case the required Al-content is closer to 46 at.%.
If Ti-46Al alloy is cooled reasonably quickly from the α phase-field (see Fig. 2) a fully
lamellar structure is formed by precipitation of γ on the (0001) planes of the α. If the
cooling is slightly slower a near fully lamellar structure is formed, where some
γ lamellae coarsen, giving rise to lamellae with continuous γ grains in the colony
(grain) boundaries. Since there is only one family of (0001) planes in α, the γ/α
lamellae formed during cooling extend across the diameter of the α grains. This is
extremely significant because the α grain size formed during solidification is inherited
in cast products. If the sample is hot worked in the two phase α + γ region this
inherited structure is eliminated and a duplex structure consisting of γ grains and
lamellar γ + α grains is formed on subsequent cooling. For a fixed alloy composition
the ratio of γ to lamellar grains is determined by the hot working temperature and the
grain size is controlled by the extent of hot work and by the hot working temperature.
Large number of different alloy compositions has been patented because they are

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Fig. 4. The typical microstructure of TiAl-based alloys: (a) Ti-46Al-2W-0.5Si (at.%),

(b) Ti–45Al–2W–0.6Si–0.7B (at.%), (c) Ti-46Al-8Nb (at.%), (d) Ti-45Al-8Nb-0.2B-
0.2C (at.%).

described to have some particularly desirable combination of properties. The TiAl-

based alloys of the 1st generation are mainly binary Ti-Al systems with various
content of Al. In the nineties, large attention was paid to the TiAl-based alloys of the
2nd generation. The typical representatives of this group are Howmet, GE, ABB-2 and
ABB-23 alloys with nominal chemical composition Ti-48Al-2Mn-2Nb [10], Ti-48Al-2Cr-
2Nb [11], Ti-47Al-2W-0.5Si [12, 13] and Ti-45Al-2W-0.5Si-0.5B (at.%) [14, 15],
respectively. Fig. 4a shows the typical microstructure of the ABB-2 alloy which
exhibits pseudo-duplex microstructure after heat treatments [11]. Fig. 4b shows the
typical microstructure of the ABB-23 alloy [14, 15]. The ABB-23 alloy was derived
from its counterpart ABB-2 with the aim to refine the microstructure and improve
creep properties by alloying with B. Addition of B was proved to be an effective and
economic method to achieve grain refinement, reduce lamellar colony size and
prevent uncontrolled grain growth during heat treatments performed within the single
α- phase field.
The generally accepted view [16] that all TiAl-based alloys are limited by low
ductility and findings that a base composition of Ti-(45-46)Al-(4-8)Nb (at.%) with
minor additions of C and B would offer the best properties, led to a development of
the 3rd generation of TiAl-based alloys by GKSS [17]. This group of alloys was
designed and optimized predominantly for hot mechanical forming. There is no doubt
that Nb content of 4-8 at.% improves oxidation resistance which together with some
solid solution strengthening provides a reasonable balance of properties. The room
temperature strength is dominated by the Al-content where alloys with low Al being
much stronger than those with high Al. Fig. 3 shows shifts of phase boundaries

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10-5 500
Ti-46Al-8Ta
450
Minimum creep rate (s-1)
Ti-46Al-8Nb

Applied stress (MPa)

10-6 Ti-46Al-2W-0.5Si
Ti-45Al-2W-0.6Si-0.7B 5.6 400
7.6
350
10-7 5.8
4.8 300

250 Ti-46Al-8Ta
10-8 Ti-46Al-8Nb
Stress exponents n 200 Ti-46Al-2W-0.5Si
Ti-45Al-2W-0.6Si-0.7B
10-9 150
200 300 400 20000 21000 22000 23000 24000

Applied stress (MPa) LMP = T(20 + log t1%)

Fig. 5. Dependence of minimum creep Fig. 6. Comparison of dependence of

rates on applied stress and measured applied stress on Larson-Miller
stress exponents n of four TiAl-based parameter of time to 1% creep strain for
alloys tested at 750 °C. four TiAl-based intermetallic alloys.

caused by alloying by Nb in a quasi-binary phase diagram of a ternary Ti-46Al-8Nb

(at.%) alloy [18] that have been studied as a potential material for turbine blades
within the European integrated project IMPRESS [19]. Fig. 4c shows the typical
microstructure of a cast Ti-46Al-8Nb (at.%) alloy. Grain refinement in this alloy is
achieved through massive transformation of the α-phase to massive γΜ(TiAl) during
heat treatments. However, the cooling rates to achieve massive γΜ are relatively high
which can lead to distortion or even crack formation in complex shaped castings
(blades, turbocharger wheels, etc.) [20]. Alternative material with chemical
composition of Ti-45Al-8Nb-0.2B-0.2C (at.%) was designed with the aim to refine the
microstructure by additions of B and to increase creep resistance by C [17]. The
typical microstructure of this alloy is shown in Fig. 4d. However, the cast alloy has
significantly lower ductility when compared to that of B and C free counterpart Ti-Al-
Nb system.
The latest 4th generation of cast TiAl-based alloys with the chemical composition
Ti-46Al-8Ta (at.%) is being developed in the frame of the IMPRESS project [19]. The
design of these air-hardenable alloys is based on alloying with elements which
reduce significantly diffusion to achieve massive transformations at low cooling rates
[21, 22]. Fig. 5 shows comparison of variation of minimum creep rate with the applied
stress and measured stress exponents n for four TiAl-based alloys developed for
turbine blade applications at 750 °C. The minimum creep rates of a new Ti-46Al-
8Ta (at.%) alloy are comparable with those of Ti-45Al-2W-0.6Si-0.7B (at.%) alloy
[14]. However, the studied alloy shows significantly lower minimum creep rates when
compared with those of Ti-46Al-8Nb (at.%) alloy [22] at all stresses or with those of
Ti-46Al-2W-0.5Si (at.%) alloy [8] at higher stresses. Fig. 6 shows comparison of
variation of applied stress with Larson-Miller parameter defined as LMP = T(C +log
t1%), where T is the absolute temperature, C is a constant (C = 20 in the present
work) and t1% is the time to 1% creep deformation. The Ti-46Al-8Ta (at.%) alloy
shows significantly increased time to 1% creep deformation when compared to that of
ternary Ti-46Al-8Nb (at.%) alloy [22] at all applied stresses or Ti-46Al-2W-
0.5Si (at.%) alloy [8] at higher applied stresses. Similar values of LMP are calculated
for the studied and Ti-45Al-2W-0.6Si-0.7B (at.%) alloys [14] at low applied stresses.

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Fig. 7. Compressor blades of Ti-45Al-8Nb-0.5(B,C) (at.%) alloy produced using

extrusion and forging process by Thyssen, GfE, Leistritz for Rolls-Royce [16].

3. PROCESSING
The biggest problem which is hindering the manufacture of engineering
components from TiAl-based alloys is their processing. There are three approaches
to component production: (i) extrusion and forging, (ii) casting and (iii) powder
technology.
Extrusion and forging have been used to produce compressor blades for engine
testing, but the processing costs are very high. The compressor blades shown in
Fig. 7 have been produced by Thyssen, GfE, Leistritz and GKSS for Rolls-Royce
using Ti-45Al-8Nb-0.5(B,C) (at.%) alloy which offers excellent high temperature
strength [16]. These blades are only a few centimeters long and even for this size the
production has been complicated by the heterogeneous microstructure. This
problem, which is associated with compositional control of the ingots, will be difficult
to overcome if larger ingots are required where segregation effects will be greater.
Precise casting of TiAl-based alloys represents very promising technology for
production of complex shaped components with a competitive price when compared
to those of nickel-based superalloys [23]. Despite of enormous efforts over the last
15 years no cast components have been produced which meet aerospace
requirements of reliability and cost. The difficulties arise mainly from the high
reactivity of molten TiAl-based alloys with ceramic crucible, which has resulted in the

Fig. 8. Investment cast stationary gas Fig. 9. Typical macrostructure of two

turbine blade from Ti-46Al-2W-0.5Si investment-cast turbine blades.
(at.%) alloy. C - columnar grains, E - equiaxed grains.

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Fig. 10. SEM micrograph showing Fig. 11. Pseudo-duplex microstructure

lamellar microstructure (L) and γ-phase formed in the central part of the cast
region formed between columnar grains blade. L: lamellar region; F: feathery
in the turbine blade. region; P: Ti5Si3-precipitates.

necessity of using cold wall crucibles. However, cold wall crucibles are thermally
inefficient and enable superheating of only about 60 °C [23]. This leads to the
requirement of pre-heated moulds in order to improve filling. The resulting slow
cooling rates lead to the production of components with coarse grains. Large cast
porosity results in formation of surface dimples after HIP-ing which can lead to
rejection rate as high as 80% and thus to very high cost of cast components. At this
stage casting technology is thus inadequate to produce aero engine components
from TiAl-based alloys. Fig. 8 shows an example of successfully cast and heat
treated large turbine blade from the ABB-2 alloy. There is a further problem which is
illustrated in Fig. 9 where the large (fully lamellar) columnar grains grow from the
surface towards the central region of the blade containing equiaxed grains. Large
columnar grains with lamellar γ+α2 microstructure shown in Fig. 10 give rise to low
ductility, high creep resistance and to a large anisotropy in mechanical properties. On
the other hand, pseudoduplex equiaxed microstructure shown in Fig. 11 leads to
higher ductility at the expense of the creep resistance [8, 24].
The poor properties of coarse-grained lamellar samples are a major problem and
a great deal of work has been done to refine the microstructure of cast products. The
addition of boron was shown to refine the grain size of cast TiAl-based alloys and
there is no doubt that this is an effective technique. There are however limitations of
this approach. During slow cooling large borides are formed which act as failure
initiation sites. If the boron concentration is reduced, the refining effect is
progressively reduced and a minimum B-content of about 0.5 at.% is required [25]. It
should be noted that in thermo-mechanically processed samples the borides provide
valuable grain refinement in the original ingot and since the borides are broken up
during processing and these smaller borides provide pinning points on grain
boundaries during recrystallisation. Alternative approaches to microstructural
refinement in cast products use the fact that rapid cooling from the α phase-field
gives rise to massively transformed γM [26]. Subsequent ageing in the two phase
region α + γ leads to α precipitation on all four {111} planes in the γ. This treatment
thus produces a more isotropic microstructure than the original large lamellar grains
and the as-cast α grain size is no longer significant.
Powder processing is potentially important, especially for larger products where
as noted above, segregation limits the homogeneity of products. High dimensional

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Fig. 12. High pressure compressor casing - P.M. Fig. 13. Cast turbine vane
ISOPREC process (military engine) [27]. sector (low pressure turbine of
a civil engine) [27].

precision can be obtained through ISOPREC, minimizing the need for machining.
Powder metallurgy is also appropriate to increase the deformability (it is used by
Plansee to produce thin laminated ribbons). However, the powders and the process
itself are highly expensive.
Snecma and Turbomeca made several demonstrations of feasibility using various
processes (foundry, extrusion, forging, powder metallurgy) as illustrated in Figs. 12
and 13 [27]. Several demonstrations were technically successful, or proved that
remaining problems could be solved if necessary. However, none of these
applications are expected to enter in production at medium term.
The above discussion makes it clear that processing of TiAl-based alloys requires
further development before components can be produced with quality acceptable to
aero engine applications at an acceptable cost. The thermo-mechanically processed
samples are extremely expensive and at present ingot heterogeneity imposes a size
limit on components. Casting technology needs to be improved and the
microstructural control, aimed at refining the microstructure requires further
development.

4. APPLICATIONS
TiAl-based products are currently used in automotive applications. The most
successful of applications of TiAl-based alloys has been developed in Japan for
turbochargers which were fitted in relatively small numbers (about 1000) in 1998 to
top of the range Lancer cars. Success over the intervening years has led to more
than 20 000 cars being equipped with second generation of turbochargers in 2003.
These turbochargers shown in Fig. 14 are now manufactured from Ti-46Al-6.5Nb
(at.%) alloy with other minor additions [16, 28]. The alloy is melted using a cold wall
furnace and the turbochargers are cast using counter gravity casting [16, 29]. Several
other companies are now manufacturing TiAl-based turbochargers and it appears
that the successful application of TiAl in this relatively undemanding component
(where very low ductility was acceptable to the design engineers) will allow
experience in casting technology to be built up so that eventually safety-critical

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Fig. 14. Cast γ−TiAl turbine turbocharger Fig. 15. Cast γ-TiAl exhaust valves in
wheel of a passenger vehicle that has testing for high-performance cars in US
undergone final processing [28]. and in Europe [30].

components can be manufactured using this route. Thermo-mechanically processed

valves have been used for many years in formula one cars (where cost was not the
main issue) but formula one regulations no longer allow their use [16]. Attempts to
develop cast TiAl-based valves (Fig. 15) have been successful in terms of
performance but are still far too expensive because the amount of scrap is too large
and the cost of raw materials is an increasing cause of concern [30]. A major 5-year
European programme (IMPRESS) which was started in 2005 aims at the production
of 40 cm long turbine blades for aero engines by improving casting technology and
by producing fine grained cast products which have acceptable properties with much
reduced scatter. This is a very ambitious project but it is being driven by the end-
users who see a major need for light weight turbine blades. In addition work is
underway to produce the compressor blades illustrated in Fig. 7 using casting rather
than extrusion and forging.

5. PROSPECTS
There are two types of reasons to explain the difficulty in applying intermetallic
technology to engines: technical reasons (intrinsic properties of intermetallics and
manufacturing difficulties) and economical reasons, both being closely related.
The prospects for increased applications of TiAl-based alloys depend essentially
on several factors. The first is the development of low cost processing of components
with reproducible and acceptable properties. The second is the establishment of a
supply chain so that homogeneous ingots or clean powder is available to meet the
increased demand. One of the biggest problems in the use of TiAl-based alloys for
casting or for thermo-mechanical processing is the fact that the ingots can be
heterogeneous, with variations in Al-content of at least 1 at.% between top and
bottom and across the diameter. It appears that plasma melting is able to produce
homogeneous alloys routinely and since there is no preferential loss of volatile
elements (such as Al), these ingots have compositions very close to that of the
feedstock [16]. The final factor, which has not been covered here is the low
temperature embrittlement which can occur at times as short as 2 h at 700 °C [19].
This embrittlement has been shown to be a surface effect which is removed when the
thin oxide (typically tens of nanometer thick) is removed [22, 31]. Table 1 summarizes
average room-temperature 0.2% offset tensile yield strength (YS), ultimate tensile
strength (UTS) and measured range of plastic elongation to fracture [22]. The
specimens prepared from the as-received bars show relatively high reproducible

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Table 1. Effect of ageing on RT 0.2 % offset tensile yield strength (YS), ultimate
tensile strength (UTS) and plastic elongation to fracture
Heat treatment YS (MPa) UTS (MPa) Elongation (%)
As-received 625 724 0.94 – 1.02
Machined and aged at - 637 0.11 – 0.18
700 °C/2 h in air
Machined, aged at 623 726 0.92 – 1.11
700 °C/2 h in air and re-
machined
Aged 700 °C/2000 h and 498 564 0.68 – 0.84
machined

plastic elongation to fracture close to 1%. However, when such specimens are
subjected to short-term ageing at 700 °C for 2 h in air, large drop in RT ductility
characterized by a decrease of plastic elongation to fracture by about 82% is
observed. On the other hand, removing of oxygen-rich surface layer formed during
ageing at 700 °C fully restores YS, UTS and ductility. Hence, surface absorption of
oxygen is responsible for the observed embrittlement of the short-term aged
samples.
For most applications the required properties of alloys will be able to be met by
alloys with compositions based on Ti-(45-46)Al-(5-8)Nb but cost considerations in
some cases (e.g. automotive exhaust valves) may drive the Nb content down. Finally,
it appears that the two major companies which produce large engines for civil aircraft
are committed to use TiAl based alloys in the next generation of engines which is a
very encouraging decision for those who have been working on developing the alloys
and their processing over the years.

6. CONCLUSIONS
The overview of the present status and future perspectives of TiAl-based alloys
can be summarized as follows:
1. Three generations of TiAl-based alloys that have been developed over the last
20 years were briefly characterized and basic concept of the latest
4th generation was described.
2. Several processing technologies such as powder metallurgy, hot extrusion,
forging and precise casting were described and related to microstructure and
properties of produced components.
3. Current applications in automotive industry such as turbocharger wheels and
automotive valves are described and the typical examples of components are
given. In spite of several engine tests, there are no commercial aircraft engine
applications for TiAl-based alloys until now.
4. The factors affecting the prospects for increased applications of TiAl-based
alloys are defined from the point of view of cost, properties, processing
technology and alloy composition.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work was financially supported by the Slovak Research and Development
Agency under the contract APVV-0009-07 and by the Slovak Grant Agency for
Science under the contract VEGA 2/7085/27.

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