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Low cycle fatigue tests were conducted at 482 °C (900 °F) on forgings and extrusions of a rapidly solidified powder metallurgy titanium base alloy with and without rare earth additions. The variables studied were process temperature and heat treatment. Rare earth dispersions reduced fatigue life, and fracture surfaces indicated internal fatigue crack initiation at rare earth particles.

Control of furnace atmosphere is a key factor in the use of silica-bonded alumina shell molds for the directional solidification of eutectic superalloys reinforced with tantalum monocarbide whiskers. The use of a furnace atmosphere which is simultaneously oxidizing to aluminum in the eutectic alloy and reducing to silica phases in the mold results in the formation of an alumina barrier layerin situ at the metal/mold interface and an absence of silica phases in the mold region adjacent to this barrier layer. The presence of this microstructure permits castings of eutectics at metal temperatures up to 1750°C.