Effect of the third element on the wetting of alumina by TiAl-X (X = Fe, Ni) alloys at 1500 °C

In this work we show how the addition of a third element, namely Fe or Ni, influences the interfacial behaviour of liquid TiAl alloys on polycrystalline alumina. Wetting of these alloys was studied by the sessile drop method at 1500 °C and the interfacial microstructures were characterised to determine the relation between the contact angle and the interfacial reaction with the aid of the relevant phase diagrams. The equiatomic TiAl intermetallic wetted the alumina substrate forming a contact angle of 60°. On the other hand, increasing concentrations of Fe and Ni were found to improve the wetting behaviour of ternary TiAl-X alloys: for third-element atomic concentrations of 5 at. %, contact angles decreased to 32° and 29° by adding Fe and Ni, respectively. Neither reactive-formed interlayers nor newly formed phases were observed for any binary or ternary composition as confirmed by thermodynamic calculations. A slight dissolution of the ceramic occurred during liquid/solid contact and became more evident with the increase of concentration of the third element. The introduction of oxygen into the melt provided by the dissolution of alumina improved the wetting behaviour.