Deformation mechanisms during high temperature tensile creep of Ti3AlC2 MAX phase

The deformation mechanisms involved in the tensile creep of a Ti3AlC2 specimen deformed, at 900 °C, to a 7.5% final strain are investigated through SEM and TEM observations. Tensile creep strain rate analyses on Ti3AlC2 deformed at 900 °C enabled to identify a Norton's law with a n coefficient around 2, suggesting that creep mechanisms are controlled by grain boundary sliding. TEM observations revealed a highly heterogeneous microstructure...