Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 February 2011
The effect of cooling rate on the tensile properties of specimens of the Nb-40Ti-15A1 alloy (in at.%) subjected to various heat treatments has been studied. This alloy has the B2 crystal structure and an order-disorder transition temperature between 1020°C and 1100°C. Two heat treatments have been carried out; the first one involves an 1100°C/1hr heat treatment followed by furnace cooling, air cooling or water quenching. The second type of heat treatment involves re-heating the furnace-cooled and water-quenched specimens at 400°C for 10 minutes or 900°C for 30 minutes, followed by either furnace cooling or water quenching. Tensile properties, SEM fractographs and microstructures of these specimens have been assessed. It is shown that specimens furnace-cooled from 1100°C have higher strength and less ductility than the water quenched ones. An observed microstructural feature associated with cooling rates is the difference in anti-phase domain (APD) size. Discussions are focused on possible cooling rate related phenomena that could affect the tensile properties. It is proposed that the degree of long range ordering, not the APD size, is the dominant factor for the observed cooling rate effect on the tensile properties.