ABSTRACTDual two-phase intermetallic alloys based on the Ni3Al-Ni3V pseudo-binary alloy system have been reported to display high phase and microstructure stabilities and good mechanical properties at high temperature and are therefore considered to be used as a next generation type of high temperature structural materials. The microstructure of the dual two-phase intermetallic alloys is composed of primary Ni3Al and the channel (eutectoid) regions consisting of Ni3Al+Ni3V. In this study, the microstructure of the channel regions was investigated by a transmission electron microscope (TEM). The contrasts of the channel regions showed a complicated microstructure in bright-field images. However, the electron beam diffraction consisted of a single set of patterns and the spots did not accompany streaks, indicating that crystallographic coherency among the constituent phases or the domains is very high. It was also shown that the lattice misfit between the a-axis of Ni3Al and the c-axis of Ni3V is larger than that between the a-axis of Ni3Al and the a-axis of Ni3V. From the dark-field observation, it was found that the c-axis of Ni3V domains in the channel regions is oriented perpendicular to the interface between primary Ni3Al and Ni3V. Therefore, it is suggested that the crystallographic orientation of Ni3V in the channel regions is aligned in the manner of lowering an internal stress caused by the lattice misfit between primary Ni3Al precipitates and Ni3V domains.
