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Many ordered intermetallic alloys have attractive high-temperature properties; however, low ductility and brittle fracture limit their use for structural applications. The embrittlement in these alloys is mainly caused by an insufficient number of slip systems (bulk brittleness) and poor grain-boundary cohesion. Recent studies have shown that the ductility and fabricability of ordered intermetallics can be substantially improved by alloying processes and control of microstructural features through rapid solidification and thermomechanical treatments. These results demonstrate that the brittleness problem associated with ordered intermetallics can be overcome by using physical metallurgical principles. Application of these principles will be illustrated by results on Ni(3)Al and Ni(3)V-Co(3)V-Fe(3)V. The potential for developing these alloys as a new class of high-temperature structural materials is discussed.
Liu et al. (Fri,) studied this question.