Microstructure evolution of a high nb containing TiAl alloy with (α₂ + γ) microstructure during elevated temperature deformation

In order to verify the correctness of the transition of deformation mechanism with the change in deformation parameters and to reveal the types and mechanism of dynamic recrystallization of γ grains during compression deformation, microstructure characterization of Ti-43.5Al-8Nb-0.2W-0.2B (at. %) alloy after isothermal compression deformation were performed. When the alloy was deformed at 1000°C/10⁻² s⁻¹, the initial γ grains are elongated and significantly refined and the fraction of low angle grain boundaries (LAGB) of γ grains is obviously increased and the texture intensity remains unchanged, which indicates that the compression deformation in dislocation creep region is dominated by intragranular deformation and dynamic recrystallization (DRX) of γ grains. Besides, the lattice rotation at grain boundary serrations may be responsible for the nucleation of new recrystallized γ grains, and the following growth process may be achieved by the migration of γ grain boundaries. However, when the alloy deformed at 1050°C/10⁻⁴ s⁻¹ and 1000°C/10⁻⁴ s⁻¹, the γ grains maintain equiaxed shapes and distribute more uniformly and the fraction of LAGB of γ grains is slightly raised and the texture sharpness decreases, which indicates that the compression deformation in grain boundary sliding (GBS) region is mainly controlled by GBS of γ grains and DRX occurs simultaneously within some coarse γ grains.