Effect of chromium on properties of Fe₃Al

The effects of the addition of chromium on several properties of Fe₃Al, including tensile strength and ductility, fracture behavior, and slip and dislocation characteristics, were studied. Alloying with up to 6 at.% chromium results in an increase in room temperature ductility from approximately 4% to 8-10%. Along with this increase in ductility, the addition of chromium produces a change in fracture mode from transgranular cleavage to a mixed mode of intergranular-transgranular cleavage, and a change in slip behavior from coarse straight slip to fine wavy slip. These phenomena are discussed in terms of the effect of chromium on the antiphase boundary energies and dislocation characteristics.