The high-temperature deformation behavior of the solid solution-strengthene
d alloys Ni-47.5Al-2.5Ti and Ni-47Al-3Ti were investigated. Single crystals
were deformed in compression in the "hard" [001] and "soft" [111] orientat
ions, at temperatures between 827 degrees C and 1250 degrees C. The results
show that Ti has a very powerful solute-strengthening effect in NiAl. The
creep rates for the solid-solution alloys were observed to be as much as th
ree to four orders of magnitude lower than those for unalloyed NiAl. To bet
ter understand this strong solid-solution strengthening effect, we studied
the stress and temperature dependence of the creep rates for these alloys,
as well as the deformation transients associated with stress changes. These
results suggest that solute-drag effects dominate the creep resistance at
the highest temperatures and lowest stresses. The solute-drag hypothesis is
supported by calculations of the solute-size effect of Ti in NiAl and by t
he form of dislocation substructures found in the creep-deformed crystals.