The effect of γ-phase particles on microstructure and properties of Co-Ni-Ga alloys

The paper concerns the determination of the role of the γ-phase particles on the microstructure and properties of Co-Ni-Ga alloys. The studies cover the alloys of chemical composition which show two types of microstructure: single phase martensite BCT( Body Centred Tetragonal) lattice with c/a > 1(a), BCT + γ(b). The particle analysis was performed to determine the amount of the γ-phase in the studied alloys. The compression test on prism samples proved that the increase of the γ-phase volume fraction significantly improves the strength and plasticity of the alloys. Thus the presence of the γ-phase precipitates cause the decrease of the brittleness observed in the single phase martensitic alloys. TEM observations were performed for specimens before and after deformation to reveal the mechanism of the γ-phase deformation.