High temperature strength of Ir/Ir₂Y two phase alloys in the Ir-Pt-Y system

Possibilities of heat resistant alloys based on a C15 Laves phase and an FCC phase have been examined in the Ir-Pt-Y ternary system. Although the Ir solid solution phase (A1) and the Ir₂Y phase (C15) are not in equilibrium in the Ir-Y binary system, this equilibrium is attained by small Pt additions to the binary system. High temperature compressive strength of an A1/C15 monovariant eutectic alloy was found to be much lower than that of Ir-15Nb, an Ir based γ/γ' alloy. Low strength of the present alloys is attributed to the absence of effective strengthening mechanisms that operate in the A1 phase; for Y is hardly dissolved within the A1 phase, by which solution hardening and precipitation hardening are not available.