Physical and mechanical properties of the B2 compound NiAl

Considerable work has been performed on NiAl over the past three decades, with rapid growth in research on this intermetallic occurring in the past few years because of recent interest in this material for electronic and high temperature structural applications. However, many physical properties and the controlling fracture and deformation mechanisms over certain temperature regimes are still debated. This is due in part to the incomplete characterisation of many of the alloys previously investigated. Fragmentary data on processing conditions, chemistry, microstructure, and the apparent difficulty in accurately measuring composition have made direct comparison between individual studies sometimes tenuous. The purpose of this review is to summarise all available mechanical and pertinent physical properties of NiAl, stressing the most recent investigations, in an attempt to understand the behaviour of NiAl and its alloys over a broad temperature range.