Fabrication of thin foils of binary Ni–Al γ/γ′ two-phase alloys by cold rolling

Recently we have successfully fabricated thin foils (57 μm in thickness with 94% reduction) of boron-free binary stoichiometric Ni3Al by using directional solidification and cold rolling [1]. In this study the same process was applied to binary Ni–Al γ/γ′ two-phase alloys. Single crystals were grown for Ni–16 and Ni–18 at.% Al by a floating zone method, while columnar-grained polycrystals for Ni–20 and Ni–22 at.% Al. It turned out to be possible to cold-roll to 200 μm-thick foils with 80% reduction without any cracks for Ni–16 and Ni–18 at.% Al similar to the case of the stoichiometric Ni3Al, while some cracking occurred up to the same reduction for Ni–20 and Ni–22 at.% Al. Strong {110} rolling texture evolved on all the foils. The tensile properties of the rolled foils were measured at room temperature.