Characteristics of the γ′ precipitates at high temperatures in Ni-base polycrystalline superalloy IN738LC

IN738LC is a Ni-base cast superalloy used in land-base gas turbinesand aerospace applications. As in other superalloys precipitates contribute to strengthening of this alloy at hightemperatures. In this study, the authors investigate thecharacteristics and mechanisms of precipitate dissolution into thematrix solid solution. The precipitates grow in cuboidal shape up to1130°C, above that a duplex-size precipitate microstructure sets inupon quenching from the temperature range 1140–1150°C. Theduplex-size precipitate microstructure consists of two very distinctsizes of precipitates (fine and coarse). Holding for longer times inthe temperature range 1140–1150°C does not coarsen the fineprecipitates of the duplex microstructure. The source for theformation of the fine precipitates in the duplex microstructure isthe dissolution of the newly grown smaller-sized precipitates whenthe agings start from fine size precipitates and the corner dissolution of coarse precipitates when the startingmicrostructure consists of the maximum-sized cuboidal precipitates.At and above 1160°C, the duplex as well as the coarse precipitatemicrostructures dissolve to form a single-size fine precipitatemicrostructure upon quenching from any temperature up to 1225°C. A single-phase solid solution with no precipitates is obtained onlyupon quenching from 1235°C or above. The dissolution of coarseprecipitates and formation of the fine ones are found to be very fastprocesses in the corresponding temperature ranges. The fineprecipitates are postulated to form during quenching from thetemperature range 1140–1225°C and are considered to be of the cooling type.     

Continuous γ′ precipitation in directionally solidified IN738 LC alloy

Abstract

A microstructural characterisation of continuously precipitated γ′ particles in IN738 LC alloy directionally solidified at various cooling rates has been carried out. With decreasing cooling rate there is a trend for the γ′ morphology to vary from rounded particles to irregular cuboids and, finally, a clusterlike formation. In the interdendritic regions, microsegregation leads to an increase in the γ′ solvus temperature, and γ′ precipitation begins at higher temperatures than in the dendrite cores, resulting in differences in particle size and morphology. Observations on the effects of solution treatment and aging on the development of γ′ dispersions are also reported.     

Long — term growth of superalloy γ′ particles

The microstructures of five commercially available nickel-based superalloys (NIM80A, NIM90, NIM105, IN738, IN939) have been studied after heat-treatments at 4 different temperatures and for times up to 15 000 h (170 samples). In all cases for moderate times and temperatures the mean dimension increased linearly with the cube root of time with an activation energy of 250 to 272 kJ mol^–1 K^–1. However, at high values of time and temperature some deviations from this behaviour were observed on two of the superalloys. These were accompanied by marked morphological changes thought to be due to re-solution effects. Extended analysis of the particle-size distributions suggests a correlation with the distribution functions predicted by the Lifschitz-Slyosov theory modified to take account of encounters between growing particles. The microstructural data so obtained have been used in failure diagnosis. Attempts have been made to explain the changes in shape with respect to long-term composition.     

Thermomechanical fatigue behaviour of nickel base superalloy IN738LC Part 2 – Lifetime prediction

Abstract

An experimental programme was carried out to study the thermomechanical fatigue life of the nickel base superalloy IN738LC used in gas turbines. First, out of phase and in phase thermomechanical fatigue experiments were performed on uncoated and air plasma spray coated materials. In the temperature range investigated, it was observed that deposition of a NiCrAlY coating did not affect the thermomechanical fatigue resistance. A physically based life prediction model that takes into account the contribution of different damage mechanisms was then applied. This model successfully reflected the temperature and strain rate dependences of isothermal cycling fatigue lifetimes, and the strain–temperature history effect on thermomechanical fatigue lifetimes.     

Coarsening of γ′-precipitates in single-crystal superalloy SRR 99

Abstract

The effects of isothermal annealing between 800 and 1200°C on the microstructure of single–crystal SRR 99 have been investigated. During aging at either 800 or 900°C, the precipitates adopt an irregular, rounded, and highly interconnected array which suggests that they have undergone coalescence. Aging at higher temperatures was found to produce a regular cuboidal precipitate morphology, although long–term aging promoted the formation of γ′-‘rafts’. The precipitate size distributions were found to be broader than those predicted by the Lifshitz-Slyosov and Wagner theory, and the coarsening kinetics also showed significant deviations from the power law prediction of this theory. The reasons for these deviations are discussed in the light of the available models, and it is suggested that a progressive transition in the dominant coarsening mechanism takes place.

MST/371     

Crystallite size distribution and the lattice distortions in highly γ-irradiated linear polyethylene

Crystallite size distributions and lattice distortions have been analysed for highly-irradiated linear polyethylene in the direction normal to 1 1 0 and 0 0 1 lattice planes through X-ray line profile analysis. It has been found that the lateral crystallite size is little affected irradiation greater than 1000 Mrad, whereas that in the chain direction decreases almost linearly with the dose of irradiation. A minor difference in the crystallite size between irradiation atmospheres, i.e. irradiation in air or in vacuum, has been disclosed at a very high dose of irradiation. The above degradation behaviour of crystallites and the change in lattice distortions have proved that radiation cross-links are mainly formed in the amorphous region near the lamellar surface of polyethylene.     

Effect of elastic interaction energy on coarsening of γ′ precipitates in a mechanically alloyed ODS Ni-base superalloy

The coarsening behavior of precipitates with a uniform size distribution and with a bimodal size distribution in a mechanically alloyed ODS Ni-base superalloy were investigated to clarify the effect of elastic interaction energy on the coarsening behavior of precipitates. The coarsening rate decreased with increasing size of precipitates with a uniform size distribution, contrary to the classical LSW theory, and the coarsening behavior of precipitates with a bimodal size distribution exhibited Ostwald ripening in which the larger precipitates grow at the expense of smaller precipitates. The driving force for coarsening of precipitates was analyzed based on the two-particle model, considering the effect of elastic interaction energy in addition to the effect of interfacial energy. The contribution of elastic interaction energy on the total energy was found to increase with increasing size of precipitates, and the decelerated coarsening of precipitates was attributed to the decrease in the driving force for coarsening with increasing size of precipitates.     

Effect of γ′ size on room temperature low cycle fatigue behaviour of a nickel base superalloy

Abstract

The results of a study on the effect of γ′ particle size on the room temperature (23°C) low cycle fatigue (LCF) behaviour of a Ni base superalloy, Nimonic 90, is reported. The γ′ particle sizes were estimated from transmission electron micrographs. Ranges of particle sizes corresponding to underaged, peak aged, and overaged conditions were identified by examining the age hardening response curve. The solutionised samples had longer LCF lives compared with the aged alloys. Coffin-Manson and cyclic stress–strain plots showed bilinearity at a plastic strain amplitude of around 0.4% in the solutionised, underaged, and peak aged conditions. The observed bilinearity could be attributed to a change in the deformation mode from single slip to multiple slip. The cyclic stress response showed relatively stable behaviour for the peak aged and the overaged specimens compared with the underaged and the solution treated specimens.     

Influence of local chemical segregation on the γ′ directional coarsening behavior in single crystal superalloy CMSX-4

The influence of local chemical segregation on the directional coarsening behavior of γ′ phase has been investigated in a nickel-base single crystal superalloy during load-free thermal exposure. It is found that the γ′ phase was preferentially oriented with the direction perpendicular to the dendrite arm growth axis. The chemical gradients caused by local chemical heterogeneities were carefully measured on the scale of a dendrite. It showed that the directions of the γ′ rafting and the chemical gradients are consistent and the magnitude of the chemical gradients affects the rafting rates to some extent. It is suggested that the internal chemical gradients can orientate the development of the γ′ rafts by leading to anisotropy in their growth kinetics during Ostwald ripening. Furthermore, influence of the local chemical segregation on the mechanical properties is also discussed.     

Effect of cooling rate on the morphology of γ′ precipitates in a nickel-base superalloy under directional solidification

The morphological evolution of γ′ precipitates in a nickel-based superalloy K5 was studied by zone melting directional solidification under vacuum conditions. The results show that at the lower cooling rate of 12.42 K s⁻¹, γ′ precipitates remand big cuboids. γ′ particles become smaller at the cooling rate ranges from 12.42 to 38.80 K s⁻¹. For a rather fast cooling rate of 50.16 K s⁻¹, γ′ particles retain a spherical shape. The experiments show that big cuboids will become unstable and split into several small ones at the lower cooling rate of 1.1 K s⁻¹. The mechanism of the evolution of the γ′ morphologies is also analyzed by introducing a new parameter-shape factor which classifies the total energy into several energy levels. Based on this, the effect of the cooling rate on the γ′ morphology is discussed.     

Precipitation behaviour of β and γ′ in high Al low thermal expansion superalloy

Abstract

The precipitation behaviour of β and γ′ in a low thermal expansion superalloy IN783 was investigated. It was demonstrated that coarse γ′ precipitates do form during β aging at 845°C. During aging at lower temperatures, not only fine γ′ particles are formed, the coarse γ′ particles also change from spherical to cuboidal. Therefore, a bimodal distribution of γ′ is formed in the matrix after standard aging treatment. The formation of β consumes Al atoms, which constrains the formation of coarse γ′ in the zone around β during aging at 845°C. During γ′ aging, a fine γ′ precipitating zone is formed around β. Prolonging the β aging duration markedly promotes the formation of β at grain boundaries and in the matrix, significantly enlarges the fine γ′ precipitating zone and influences the precipitation of coarse γ′.     

On the γ′ precipitates of the normal and inverse Portevin-Le Châtelier effect in a wrought Ni-base superalloy

The Portevin-Le Châtelier (PLC) effects in a wrought Ni-base superalloy with different γ? precipitates contents have been investigated. Detailed analysis on the serration type of the tensile curves indicates that the γ? precipitates have a decisive influence on the transformation from normal to inverse PLC behavior, which is rarely proposed in other works. It is considered that the γ? precipitates play the same role in PLC effect as temperature and strain rate for the investigated wrought Ni-base superalloy.     

Effect of very high temperature short exposures on the dissolution of the γ′ phase in single crystal MC2 superalloy

Time-temperature dependence of the γ′ phase volume fraction was investigated for a second generation single crystal nickel-based superalloy exposed to very short high temperature regimes (1,100–1,200 °C). In this temperature range, the dissolution of the strengthening γ′ phase occurs. Evolution of the γ′ volume fraction in transient regimes has been established for each temperature and activation energy of the dissolution phenomenon were determined. They directly attest from the activity of the diffusing species involved during this phenomenon. From these analyses, the volume fraction at equilibrium was established for the entire temperature range where dissolution occurs. A model, based on a time/temperature equivalence, is proposed to quantify the γ′ volume fraction dissolved during short high temperature exposure.     

Effect of cooling rate on the morphology of γ′ precipitates in a nickel–base superalloy under directional solidification

The morphological evolution of γ′ precipitates in a nickel-based superalloy K5 was studied by zone melting directional solidification under vacuum conditions. The results show that at the lower cooling rate of 12.42 K s^–1, γ′ precipitates remand big cuboids, γ′ particles become smaller at the cooling rate ranges from 12.42 to 38.80 K s^–1. For a rather fast cooling rate of 50.16 K s^–1, γ′ particles retain a spherical shape. The experiments show that big cuboids will become unstable and split into several small one at the lower cooling rate of 1.1 K s^–1. The mechanism of the evolution of the γ′ morphologies is also analyzed by introducing a new parameter-shape factor which classifie the total energy into several energy levels. Based on this, the effect of the cooling rate on the γ′ morphology is discussed.     

Precipitation kinetics of γ′ phase in nickel base superalloy SC16: an in situ neutron diffraction study

Abstract

An in situ study of the kinetics of nucleation and growth of the γ′ phase in the single crystal Ni base superalloy SC16 was carried out by means of neutron diffraction. The investigation was aimed at a better understanding of the fundamental kinetic phenomena, in view of the optimisation of the heat treatments applied prior to the industrial use of the alloy. On heating above the solvus point (1525 K) the γ′ phase decomposes, and when cooling down back towards lower temperatures, it reappears. Measuring superlattice reflections allows the different stages of decomposition, nucleation, growth and concurrent coarsening to be followed. Results show that at temperatures T≤1490 K an increasing volume fraction of γ′ can be found with decreasing temperature, until saturation occurs at around 1100 K. Following classical kinetic theory, an Avrami like growth (time) law was used at each aging temperature and the isothermal reaction rates calculated. They show a maximum at around 1300 K, where the competing nucleation and growth processes find equilibrium. Nucleation and growth can be described with a modified Arrhenius law, analogous to that used for eutectoid reactions. The reaction rate first increases with the undercooling and then decreases. This implies a change in the character of the reaction, which was found to be initially surface and then bulk driven.     

Thermomechanical fatigue behaviour of nickel base superalloy IN738LC Part 1 – Comparison of two unified constitutive models for description of mechanical behaviour

Abstract

The capabilities of two unified constitutive models to predict the mechanical behaviour of nickel base superalloy IN738LC under uniaxial loading conditions have been investigated over the temperature range 450–850°C. The material parameters of each model have been identified from an experimental investigation and complemented by available data from the literature. Mechanical responses from isothermal tests performed at 450 and 850°C (such as creep, monotonic, and fully reversed isothermal cyclic tests) were used for the identification of model parameters, and model capabilities were examined by comparison with in phase and out of phase thermomechanical fatigue and stress relaxation tests. Both models were found to capture all features of the material responses under uniaxial loading, although with varying degrees of accuracy.