Quantitative analyses of dissolution and precipitation kinetics of θ-Al2Cu phase in an Al-6.2Si-2.9Cu alloy using electrical resistivity

The dissolution kinetics of the θ phase during solution treatment and isothermal precipitation kinetics during aging in an Al-6.2Si-2.9Cu alloy were quantitatively examined through electrical resistivity, hardness, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The electrical resistivity successfully predicted that pre-existing θ particles in the as-cast Al-Si-Cu alloy were fully dissolved after 4.5 h at 500 °C, which was in a good agreement with that directly observed by TEM. The electrical resistivity immediately decreased during aging at 250 °C due to the precipitation of θ′ phase and was saturated within 2 h. A maximum hardness peak appeared in 1 h at 250 °C due to the formation of a metastable θ′ phase, and then gradually decreased due to the coarsening of the θ′ phase as well as the annihilation of the θ″ phase. The θ′ phase was finally transformed to θ phase after 3.5 h at 250 °C.     

γ′ Phase Stability and Phase Equilibrium in Ternary Co-Al-W at 900 °C

Phase equilibria at 900 °C in the Co-rich Co-Al-W ternary system are investigated through isothermal annealing of six alloy compositions for times up to 8000 h. The volume fraction of the L1₂-γ′ phase co-existing with disordered FCC-γ, B2 and D0₁₉ phases is found to steadily decrease with increasing annealing time indicating that it is unstable at 900 °C. Additional heat treatments at 850 and 1000 °C further suggest it is a nonequilibrium phase at all temperatures in the ternary system. The L1₂-γ′ phase dissolves slowly with significant amounts remaining in some alloys after 8000 h at 900 °C. However, the present work clearly indicates the microstructure is moving toward a three-phase equilibrium between γ, D0₁₉, and B2. The collected compositional and phase equilibria information provide much needed data for improving the available thermodynamic assessments of the ternary Co-Al-W alloy system.     

6351铝合金的淬火敏感性

采用分级淬火的实验方法,结合合金时效态硬度和淬火态电导率的测试拟合得到6351合金的TTP和TTT曲线,并采用透射电镜对6351合金的淬火敏感性进行研究.结果表明,当6351合金在相同温度下等温时,随着保温时间延长,淬火态电导率呈上升趋势,时效态硬度呈下降趋势.透射电镜分析发现,在等温初期,过饱和固溶体分解形成针状的β”相;随着保温时间延长,逐渐形成棒状β'相和片状β相.TTT和TTP曲线的鼻温为360℃,淬火敏感温度区间为230～430℃.在鼻温附近等温相转变最快,低温区相转变次之,高温区最慢.淬火因子分析结果表明,要获得最佳的力学性能,淬火敏感温度区间的冷却速率需大于15℃/s.     

Discontinuous Precipitation of γ′ Phase in Ni-Co-Al Alloys

Decomposition of nickel-base alloys by precipitation of the γ′ phase occurs either continuously (homogeneously) or discontinuously. Under certain conditions of solute content and temperature, discontinuous precipitation is observed. Ni-Al-Co alloys have been characterized by coupling atom probe tomography with transmission electron microscopy studies. The primary focus was to investigate the discontinuous precipitation of γ and γ′ phases. When subjected to fast quenching after solution treatment, the γ′ precipitates exhibit a near-spherical shape and monomodal size distribution with an average size of less than 5 nm. After early stage annealing at 600°C for 10 min, discontinuous precipitation nucleated near the grain boundaries while some regions of homogeneous γ′ precipitates were observed. Discontinuous γ + γ′ product was completely transformed throughout the grain after 600°C/1 h. On long-term annealing (600°C/256 h), coarser γ + γ′ lamellae products replaced the fine discontinuous products that exhibited after 1 h annealing at 600°C. Equilibrium compositions of the γ and γ′ phases were achieved in this coarsening stage. The γ′ phase has an Al content of 25 at.%, which is consistent with the as-quenched condition where the (Ni + Co)₃Al stoichiometry is maintained after 600°C/256 h annealing.     

Aging of a New Niobium-Modified MAR-M247 Nickel-Based Superalloy

MAR-M247 is a nickel-based superalloy that contains 3 wt.% Ta (weight percent of tantalum). Considering the chemical similarity between tantalum and niobium (Nb) and the lower cost of Nb, a modified MAR-M247 superalloy was produced with total replacement of Ta by Nb in this work. The samples were previously solutioned at 1260°C for 8 h and then aged at different times (between 5 and 80 h) and temperatures (between 780 and 980°C). The microstructures of the aged samples were characterized with a scanning electron microscope (SEM and FEG-SEM, both with EDS). Simulations of the MC carbide and γ′ fraction and the Ta and Nb content in both MC carbide and γ′ phase were performed with Thermo-Calc software (TT_Ni8 database) and simulations of the γ′ growth rate and γ′ mean diameter were performed with JMatPro software. MC carbide with high Hf content was observed in all the aged samples, in agreement with thermodynamic simulation results. The equilibrium γ′ fraction decreases from 67 mol.% at 780°C to 52 mol.% at 980°C. Good agreement between the calculated and experimentally determined γ′ particle size was also found. The growth rate of γ′ at 980°C is about 8 times higher than that at 780°C and 3 times higher than that at 880°C. The hardness values do not change considerably after aging at 780 and 880°C. However, these values decrease significantly after aging at 980°C.     

Effect of long-term thermal exposures on microstructures and mechanical properties of directionally solidified CM247LC alloy

A directionally solidified CM247LC alloy was exposed at 871 °C and 982 °C for 1000 h, 5000 h, and 10000 h under free stress in order to study the effect of microstructural degradation on the creep properties. None of the specimens exposed at temperatures up to 10000 h produced any kind of topologically close-packed phases because of the excellent phase stability of CM247LC alloy. The plate-like M₆C carbide was formed only at exposure of 982 °C for 10000 h through a decomposition reaction between γ and MC. Moreover, an M₂₃C₆ carbide layer was observed between the M₆C and the matrix. The exposure at 982°C for 5000 h and 10000 h had a spontaneous rafting of γ′ under free stress, while the exposure at 871 °C for 1000 h, 5000 h, and 10000 h had a non-rafted structure. The spontaneous rafted structure resulted in a drastic decrease in creep life. A 3-dimensional morphology of γ′ in the as-crept specimens, which were pre-exposed at 982 °C for 5000 h and 10000 h, had a non-rafted structure. This microstructural feature proves that the significant decrease in creep life of the specimen resulted from a loss of coherency between γ and γ′.     

Microstructural Evolution and the Precipitation Behavior in X90 Linepipe Steel During Isothermal Processing

Thermomechanical controlled processing of 560-MPa (X90) linepipe steel was simulated in the laboratory using a thermomechanical simulator to study the microstructural evolution and precipitation behavior during isothermal holding. The results indicated that martensite was obtained when the steels were isothermally held for 5 s at 700 °C. Subsequently, granular bainite and acicular ferrite transformation occurred with increased holding time. Different amount of polygonal ferrite formed after isothermally holding for 600-3600 s. Pearlite nucleated after isothermally holding for 3600 s. Precipitation occurred after isothermal holding for 5 s and continuous precipitation occurred at grain boundaries after isothermally holding for 600 s. After isothermally holding for 3600 s, large Nb/Ti carbide precipitated. The presence of MX-type precipitates was confirmed by diffraction pattern. The interphase precipitation (IP) occurred between 5 and 30 s. Maximum hardness was obtained after isothermally holding for 600 s when IP occurred and rapidly decreased to a low value, mainly because polygonal ferrite dominated the microstructure after isothermally holding for 3600 s.     

Phase equilibria in the Co-rich Co-Al-W-Ti quaternary system

We determined phase equilibria in the Co-rich Co-Al-W-Ti quaternary system at a temperature range between 900 °C and 1200 °C with a close attention to the thermodynamic stability of the γ′-Co₃(Al, W, Ti) (L1₂) phase, based on micro-structure observation and electron microprobe analysis on bulk alloy samples heat-treated for periods up to 2000 h. In the quaternary system the single phase field of γ′ extends from the Co-Ti binary edge to a composition of Co-5Al-8.5W-8Ti (in at.%) at 900 °C. At the tip of the single phase field, the γ′ phase is in equilibrium with the γ-Co (A1), Co₂AlTi (L2₁) and Co₃W (D0₁₉) phases. The constructed vertical section of phase diagram between Co-9.4Al-9.6W and Co-16.5Ti indicates that there is a narrow composition range around Co-4.5Al-5.4W-7.5Ti in which the γ single phase field exists at high temperatures above 1200 °C and two-phase of γ+γ′ is thermodynamically stable at low temperatures below 1100 °C.     

镍基单晶高温合金在不同条件下的蠕变性能和组织演化(英文)

研究[001]取向的镍基单晶高温合金在不同测试条件下的蠕变性能,采用扫描电镜和透射电镜研究合金蠕变断裂后的γ′相、TCP相和位错组织演化特征。结果表明:合金具有良好的蠕变性能,蠕变曲线显示出两种不同的蠕变变形特征。在(760°C,600 MPa)、(850°C,550 MPa)条件下,蠕变第一阶段较长;在(980°C,250 MPa)、(1070°C,140 MPa)和(1100°C,120 MPa)条件下,蠕变第一阶段很短。蠕变断裂后,在(760°C,600 MPa)条件下γ′相形态变化不大;在(850°C,550 MPa)条件下γ′相已经合并长大;在(980°C,250 MPa)条件下基体γ被γ′相包围;在(1070°C,140 MPa)条件下基体γ不再连续;在(1100°C,120 MPa)条件下基体γ厚度进一步增加。在(760°C,600MPa)、(850°C,550 MPa)和(980°C,250 MPa)条件下合金无TCP相析出,而在(1070°C,140 MPa)和(1100°C,120MPa)条件下有针状TCP相析出。在低温高应力下,变形特征为位错包括层错的剪切机制;在高温低应力下为位错绕过机制,并在γ/γ′相界面形成位错网。     

Phase Equilibria in the Al-Co-Ni Alloy System

The phase equilibria in the Ni-Co rich region (<50 at.%Al) of the Al-Co-Ni system were studied experimentally for two isothermal sections at 1100 and 800 °C. Metallography, energy dispersive spectroscopy, hardness and x-ray diffraction were used for characterization and determination of γ, γ′ and β phases within the ternary system. Phase boundaries in the isothermal sections and a partial liquidus projection are modified compared to previously published work. Comparison is made to the isothermal sections computed using Thermo-Calc and the TCNI8 database. No definitive experimental evidence corroborating the predicted existence of a Nishizawa horn was obtained.     

GH4096合金在长期热暴露过程中的组织演化

基于粉末冶金René88DT合金的成分,采用新型定向凝固铸锭变形工艺研制了GH4096合金,并研究了其固溶时效热处理后在700~900 ℃长期热暴露过程中γ′相的粗化和晶界析出相的析出行为。结果表明:GH4096合金在700 ℃热暴露时具有良好的组织稳定性,晶内γ′相的尺寸稳定在70 nm左右,未发现明显的长大行为,晶界上未发现析出相;750 ℃热暴露500 h以上时,二次γ′相开始出现聚集长大现象,晶界开始出现不连续析出相,但γ′相的长大速度和晶界析出相的析出速度均比较低;800 ℃以上长期热暴露时,γ′相的粗化速度和晶界析出相的析出长大速度明显加快。长期热暴露后晶内二次γ′相的尺寸与Larsen-Miller参数近似呈线性关系,晶界析出相以M₃B₂和μ相为主。     

The Mechanism of η Phase Precipitation in A286 Superalloy During Heat Treatment

In this research, the mechanism of eta (η-Ni₃Ti) phase precipitation in iron-nickel-based A286 superalloy was assessed during aging heat treatment in the temperature range between 650 and 900 °C for the times of 1-30 h. Optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, differential thermal analysis, and x-ray diffractometry were used to describe the η phase transformation. The results showed that the major precipitates at temperatures below 840 °C were γ′ and η. The η phase started to precipitate at the expense of the γ′ phase after prolonged aging. The η phase existed in the samples aged at temperature higher than 760 °C with cellular morphology. The η volume fraction increased with increasing heat treatment time. In addition, when the aging temperature was increased from 760 to 820 °C, the η volume fraction increased and then decreased after 840 °C. The η phase morphology also changed from cellular to Widmanstätten-type during aging. The time-temperature-precipitation diagrams of these morphologies are presented. The results indicated the differences in precipitation mechanisms of η phase at 840 and 860 °C.     

Solution and Aging of MAR-M246 Nickel-Based Superalloy

Solution and aging heat-treatments play a key role for the application of the superalloys. The aim of this work is to evaluate the microstructure of the MAR-M246 nickel-based superalloy solutioned at 1200 and 1250 °C for 330 min and aged at 780, 880 and 980 °C for 5, 20 and 80 h. The γ′ solvus, solidus and liquidus temperatures were calculated with the aid of the JMatPro software (Ni database). The as-cast and heat-treated samples were characterized by SEM/EDS and SEM-FEG. The γ′ size precipitated in the aged samples was measured and compared with JMatPro simulations. The results have shown that the sample solutioned at 1250 °C for 330 min showed a very homogeneous γ matrix with carbides and cubic γ′ precipitates uniformly distributed. The mean γ′ size of aged samples at 780 and 880 °C for 5, 20 and 80 h did not present significant differences when compared to the solutioned sample. However, a significant increasing in the γ′ particles was observed at 980 °C, evidenced by the large mean size of these particles after 80 h of aging heat-treatment.     

Effect of annealing temperature on the microstructure and tensile properties of a bimodal nano/micro grained 1020 carbon steel prepared by aluminothermic reaction casting

Bulk 1020 carbon steel was prepared by aluminothermic reaction casting. After casting, isothermal aging treatments at different temperatures are performed for different periods up to 8 h. Microstructure characterization was performed using many methods, including optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. It was found that the steel consisted of a nanocrystalline- ferrite matrix and a microcrystalline pearlite phase with a laminar structure. The average grain sizes of the ferrite were 23, 24, 28, and 37 nm for the cast steel and for samples annealed at 600, 800, and 1000 °C, respectively. As the annealing temperature increased, the volume fraction of the pearlite initially increased and then decreased, while the laminar spacing of pearlite increased from 240 to 900 nm. When annealed at 1000 °C, a spherical black micron pearlite particle was formed. The tensile and yield strength dramatically decreased, and the elongation varied slightly with the annealing temperature. A ductile phase was achieved by extending the holding time.     

Oxidation of orthorhombic titanium aluminide Tl-22AL-25NB in air between 650 and 1000 °C

The oxidation behavior of orthorhombic titanium aluminide alloy Ti-22Al-25Nb was studied in air between 650 and 1000 °C by isothermal thermogravimetry and postoxidation scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and x-ray diffraction. Microhardness measurements were performed after exposure to gage hardening due to nitrogen and oxygen ingress. The parabolic rate constant of Ti-22Al-25Nb was of the same order as conventional titanium alloys and Ti₃Al-based titanium aluminides at and below 750 °C. Between 800 and 1000 °C, the oxidation resistance of Ti-22Al-25Nb was as good as that of γ-TiAl based aluminides; however, the growth rate changed from parabolic to linear after several tens of hours at 900 and 1000 °C. The mixed oxide scale consisted of TiO₂, AlNbO₄, and Al₂O₃, with TiO₂ being the dominant oxide phase. Underneath the oxide scale, a nitride-containing layer formed in the temperature range investigated, and at 1000 °C, internal oxidation was observed below this layer. In all cases, oxygen diffused deeply into the subsurface zone and caused severe embrittlement. Microhardness measurements revealed that Ti-22Al-25Nb was hardened in a zone as far as 300 μm below the oxide scale when exposed to air at 900 °C for 500 h. The peak hardness depended on exposure time and reached five times the average hardness of the bulk material under the above conditions.     

Microstructure and hardness change in high temperature service depending on Mo content in 2.25Cr-1Mo steel weld metals

The microstructural characteristics and properties of 2.25Cr-1Mo weld metal were investigated at high temperatures by modifying the Mo content of commercial filler wires using the flux cored arc welding (FCAW) process. The microstructure of the as-welded specimens was composed of fine bainite and acicular ferrite, and the hardness and strength increased with increasing Mo content. Each weld metal was heat-treated at 400 °C, 500 °C, 600 °C and 700 °C for 24 h. The microstructure exhibited a tempered bainite structure after the heat treatment at 400 °C and 500 °C, whereas the bainite was slightly coarsened at 600 °C. Bulky ferrite with carbides that had transformed from the bainite dissolution was observed at 700 °C, and the hardness significantly decreased.     

Effect of step-quenching on microstructure of aluminum alloy 7055

The effect of step-quenching on the microstructure of aluminum alloy 7055 after artificial aging was studied by hardness testing and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Step-quenching leads to decomposition of solid solution and heterogeneous precipitation of equilibrium phase mainly on dispersoids and at grain boundaries; thus lower hardness after aging. Prolonging isothermal holding at 415 ℃ results in coarser and more spaced η phase particles at grain boundaries with wider precipitates free zone, and lower density of larger η′ hardening precipitates inside grains after aging. Isothermal holding at 355 ℃ results in heterogeneous precipitation of η phase both on dispersoids and at grain boundaries. Isothermal holding at 235 ℃ results in heterogeneous precipitation of η phase first, and then S phase. Precipitates free zones are created around these coarse η and S phase particles after aging. Prolonging isothermal holding at these two temperatures leads to fewer η′ hardening precipitates inside grains, larger and more spaced η phase particles at grain boundaries and wider grain boundary precipitates free zone after aging.     

Nanometric multilayers: A new approach for joining TiAl

A novel intermetallic alloy diffusion bonding procedure is being developed. The innovative aspect relies on the use of sputtered nanometallic multilayers made up of the elements present in the bulk intermetallics to enhance the bonding mechanisms. For this purpose a deep knowledge of the multilayer thin films is required, focusing on thermal phase stability and grain size evolution. γ-TiAl was selected for this study and Ti/Al multilayer thin films with nanometric period (Λ = 4 nm) were deposited onto Ti–(45–49)Al–(3–2)Nb–2Cr (at.%) substrates by d.c. magnetron sputtering. The as-deposited titanium and aluminium nanolayers with crystallite sizes of 5–50 nm evolve toward the equilibrium γ-TiAl structure after heat treatment for at least up to 600 °C at a 10 °C min⁻¹ heating rate. Whatever the heating temperature and holding time, between 600 and 1000 °C, the γ-TiAl phase is stable. During the thermal cycle the growth of the nanometric grains is promoted, this effect being more pronounced as the temperature and holding time increase. Consequently, the hardness decreases from 11.9 GPa (600 °C, 1 h) to 6.5 GPa (1000 °C, 3 h). This study allowed the thermal treatment required to join γ-TiAl parts to be established.