[1][2][3] , Ni 3 Al-based alloys have long attracted considerable interest as a class of high-temperature structural material. These properties, combined with their unique high thermal conductivity, make them ideal for special applications, such as blades in gas turbines and jet engines. However, polycrystalline Ni 3 Al alloys show almost no ductility and extremely low fracture resistance at ambient temperatures, which is ascribed to the intrinsic brittleness of their grain boundaries [4] . It has been found that these grain boundaries are also susceptible to moisture. Thus, Ni 3 Al alloys easily suffer from environmental embrittlement [5] . Recently, Ni 3 Al alloys with high ductility at room temperature have been made by directional solidification (DS) without alloying. Binary single-phase Ni 3 Al alloys with columnar-grained structure, prepared by a floating zone method, showed about 60% tensile Abstract: The present work focused on the Ni 3 Al-based alloy with a high melting point. The aim of the research is to study the effect of withdrawal rate on the microstructures and mechanical properties of directionally solidified Ni-25Al alloy. Ni 3 Al intermetallics were prepared at different withdrawal rates by directional solidification (DS) in an electromagnetic cold crucible directional solidification furnace. The DS samples contain Ni 3 Al and NiAl phases. The primary dendritic spacing (λ) decreases with the increasing of withdrawal rate (V), and the volume fraction of NiAl phase increases as the withdrawal rate increases. Results of tensile tests show that ductility of DS samples is enhanced with a decrease in the withdrawal rate. elongation along the columnar grains direction at room temperature [6] . The ductility improvement of DS Ni 3 Al alloys have been interpreted by transgranular fracture mode, since low angle columnar-grained boundaries are more resistant to fracture [7] . During directional solidification, the solidification parameters affect the microstructures and mechanical behaviors of the alloys [8] . Therefore, the effects of solidification parameters on the microstructure and mechanical properties have been investigated widely for different alloys, such as Al-based alloys, TiAl-based alloys [9] , Fe-Ni alloys [10] , and CuSn alloys [11] . These studies mostly focused on eutectic alloys or peritectic alloys with low melting points. For binary alloys with high melting points, the effects of solidification parameters on the microstructures and mechanical properties have rarely been reported.Hence, the present work focused on the Ni 3 Albased alloy with a high melting point. The aim of the research is to study the effect of withdrawal rate on the microstructures and mechanical properties of directionally solidified Ni-25Al alloy, and the effect of NiAl phase on strength and ductility is discussed. The results provide a reference for the microstructure control of Ni 3 Al-based alloys by directional solidification.