Crack growth in high temperature materials

Many intermetallic compounds are brittle at low temperatures. Some compounds, including NiAl and MoSi, seem to be intrinsically brittle. Other compounds, including Ni3Al, FeAl and Fe3Al, are reasonably ductile when tested in inert environments. Water and water vapor can severely embrittle these and other compounds because they contain an active element such as aluminum or silicon. The release of atomic hydrogen from water leads, at room temperature, to hydrogen embrittlement. Another source of embrittlement, at elevated temperatures, is oxygen from the atmosphere. The effects of aggressive environments on the crack growth behavior of several intermetallics under monotonic or cyclic loading are described. Alleviation of embrittlement by means of alloying, the use of coatings or by prestrain are described, although no single method is effective for all intermetallics. A brief survey of environmentally induced crack growth in superalloys is included