Comparative Characterization of Microstructure and High-temperature Oxidation Behavior of Additive Manufacturing and Casting TiAl Alloy

doi:10.11902/1005.4537.2025.133

Journal of Chinese Society for Corrosion and protection

2026, Vol. 46

Issue (1): 71-80 DOI: 10.11902/1005.4537.2025.133

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Comparative Characterization of Microstructure and High-temperature Oxidation Behavior of Additive Manufacturing and Casting TiAl Alloy

ZHU Dingding, ZHAO Xiya, ZHANG Xiaomei, MEI Ziqi, LU Wenjun, WANG Shuai(

)

Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China

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ZHU Dingding, ZHAO Xiya, ZHANG Xiaomei, MEI Ziqi, LU Wenjun, WANG Shuai. Comparative Characterization of Microstructure and High-temperature Oxidation Behavior of Additive Manufacturing and Casting TiAl Alloy. Journal of Chinese Society for Corrosion and protection, 2026, 46(1): 71-80.

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Abstract

The microstructure and high-temperature oxidation resistance of two TiAl based Ti-43.5Al-4Nb-1Mo-0.1B alloys with addition of Nb and Mo (TNM) are comparatively assessed, which are prepared by casting and laser-electric hybrid additive-manufacturing (AM) respectively. Microstructural analysis indicates that: the cast TNM alloy is mainly composed of coarse lamellar α₂-Ti₃Al + γ-TiAl structureand a small amount of β₀-TiAl phase, with an average grain size of 15.56 μm; while the AM alloy is mainly composed of basket-weave α₂-Ti₃Al + fine γ-TiAl and a small amount of β₀-TiAl, and the grain size is significantly refined to 2.45 μm. The 900 °C oxidation test shows that the oxidation rate of the AM TNM alloy is higher than that of the cast ones, and a protective Z-phase (Ti₅Al₃O₂) is formed at the oxide layer/matrix interface of the cast alloy after oxidation for 20 h. The difference in oxidation behavior between the two alloys may be mainly attributed to: the fine-grained structure of the AM alloy generates a high density of grain boundaries, accelerating the outward diffusion of metal ions in the matrix and the inward diffusion of oxygen; compared with the cast ones, the AM alloy cannot form a protective Z-phase at the oxide scale/matrix interface, which aggravates the oxidation rate of the alloy.

Key words: additive manufacturing TiAl alloy high-temperature oxidation Z-phase

Received: 02 May 2025 32134.14.1005.4537.2025.133

ZTFLH:

TG174

Fund: National Key Research and Development Program of China(2022YFB4600700);Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission(KJZD20240903101400001);Development and Reform Commission of Shenzhen Municipality(XMHT20240115003);China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(2024M761298)

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	ZHU Dingding
	ZHAO Xiya
	ZHANG Xiaomei
	MEI Ziqi
	LU Wenjun
	WANG Shuai

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https://www.jcscp.org/EN/10.11902/1005.4537.2025.133 OR https://www.jcscp.org/EN/Y2026/V46/I1/71

Fig.1 Schematic diagram of the laser-electropulse hybrid additive manufacturing process for TNM TiAl alloy

Table 1 Comparative analysis of chemical compositions in specimens before and after additive manufacturing

Fig.2 EBSD characterization of cast (a-c) and AM (d-f) TNM sample: (a, d) image quality (IQ) map, (b, e) inverse pole figure (IPF) map, (c, f) phase distribution

Fig.3 Microstructural characterization of cast (a-e) and AM (f-j) TNM sample: (a) HAADF-STEM image of cast TNM, (b) HRTEM image, (c, d) FFTs images, (e) SAED image, (f) BF-STEM image of AM TNM, (g) high-magnification HAADF-STEM image, (h) HRTEM image, (i, j) FFTs images

Fig.4 Surface SEM morphology of cast and AM TNM alloys after oxidation in air at 900 ^oC (d_A: average oxide grain size for each condition): (a-f) morphology of cast TNM oxidized for different time, (g-l) morphology of AM TNM oxidized for different time

Fig.5 Cross-sectional SEM and TEM micrographs of cast and AM TNM alloys after oxidation in air at 900 ^oC (scale bars consistent; red dashed lines denote the oxide/substrate interface): (a-d) cast TNM oxidized for 1, 8, 24 and 48 h, (e-h) AM TNM oxidized for 1, 8, 24 and 48 h, (i) HAADF-STEM image of the oxide layer formed on the cast TNM alloy after 1 h of oxidation, (j-l) corresponding EDS Ti, Al and O elemental maps of the region depicted in Fig.5i

Fig.6 Oxidation kinetic curves showing the changes of cross-sectional oxide layer thickness (a) and oxidation mass gain with time (b) for additively manufactured and cast TNM alloys after oxidation at 900 ^oC (The error bars represent the standard deviation uncertainty based on multiple measurements, and the solid lines are the fitting results of the parabolic equation)

Fig.7 SEM-BSE images of the oxide scale/matrix interfaces for cast (a, b) and AM (c, d) TNM alloy after 24 (a, c) and 48 h (b, d) oxidation (the inset in Fig.b displays the electron diffraction pattern of the Z-phase along the [001] zone axis)

Table 2 Chemical compositions of the local areas shown in Fig.7 (red dot regions) for the cast and AM TNM alloys after oxidation at 900 ^oC for 24 h

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