Study of the effects of Zr addition on the microstructure and properties of Nb-Ti-Si based ultrahigh temperature alloys

The effects of alloying with Zr on the microstructure, mechanical and oxidation properties of Nb-Ti-Si based ultrahigh temperature alloys have been investigated in this study. The microstructures of the all alloys were comprised of primary γ(Nb,X)₅Si₃ blocks, Nbss and eutectic colonies, and the additions of Zr do not affect the microstructure and phase constituents of Nb-Ti-Si based alloys. Zr improves both the room-temperature toughness and the high-temperature strength. The alloy with addition of 8 at.% Zr shows the highest fracture toughness of 15.01 Mpa·m^1/2. The compressive strengths of the alloys are improved to 278.89–293.08 MPa for the Zr-containing alloys when compare with the Zr-free alloy (194.23 MPa). The oxidation resistance of the alloys was also obviously ameliorated with Zr addition, showing a reduced weight gain with the increase of Zr content.