RECENT PROGRESS ON INTERMETALLIC ALLOYS FOR ADVANCED AEROSPACE SYSTEMS

Selected intermetallic materials have undergone an evolutionary process whereby some of them could provide major payoffs in aerospace systems. The maturation of intermetallic alloys based on Ti3Al has provided significant hope for making still greater advances in turbine performance through further developments in other intermetallic materials. The development results obtained to date have highlighted the fact that much of the fundamental basis from which these materials may be understood has simply not been built and has suggested that widespread implementation of these materials lies in the distant future. This paper briefly reviews the recent research results on selected intermetallic alloys being pursued as high temperature structural materials. Specifically, advances and findings from studies performed during the last three years on alloys of the titanium aluminides, nickel aluminides and other intermetallics for service at temperatures over 1 300 K are reviewed. Technical challenges and pacing unknowns are highlighted throughout.