Electron Beam Melting of a β‐Solidifying Intermetallic Titanium Aluminide Alloy

The structural features of an electron‐beam‐melted titanium aluminide alloy are presented. The microstructure consisting of γ‐TiAl, α₂‐Ti₃Al, and β_o‐TiAl reveals inhomogeneous phase and Al distributions, which are quantified by electron probe microanalysis. Electron backscatter diffraction is utilized to indicate a solidification via the β‐phase preferably along the <001> direction, resulting in a {001}_βo fiber texture parallel to the building direction. These findings are correlated to a calculated isopleth section of the Ti‐Al‐Nb‐Mo system and the corresponding phase fraction diagram. The investigated β‐solidifying γ‐TiAl‐based alloy, therefore, combines both the characteristics of electron‐beam‐melted Ti and TiAl alloys.