FATIGUE OF ALUMINIDES AND SILICIDES

The fatigue resistance of two major classes of intermetallics, alumini des and silicides, are reviewed in this paper. High cycle fatigue (HCF ) and fatigue crack growth (FCG) behavior are emphasized, as both are determined in most cases under stress control. Major experimental vari ables are composition, microstructure, temperature, state of order, me an stress (or R ratio) and test environment. Results of work on alumin ides of titanium, nickel, iron and niobium aluminides are described. M ethods to improve stress-controlled fatigue resistance of these alloy systems are reviewed.