Prediction of recrystallization in investment cast single-crystal superalloys

Modelling and targeted experimentation are used to quantify the processing conditions which cause recrystallization in a single-crystal superalloy. The plasticity needed is traced to the differential thermal contractions of the metal and its ceramic mould during processing. For typical cooling rates, the plasticity causing recrystallization is induced above 1000 °C, thus over a temperature interval of approximately 300 °C after solidification is complete. The total accumulated plastic strain needed for recrystallization is estimated to be in the range of 2–3%. Modelling is used to rationalize the influence of mould thickness, stress concentration factor and geometry on the induced plasticity. Negligible plastic strains were predicted in a solid casting with no stress concentration features, as found experimentally. However, recrystallization occurred in thin-walled sections, particularly beneath shroud-like features due to the plasticity induced there. The model provides the foundation for a systems-based approach which enables recrystallization to be predicted and thus avoided in new designs of turbine blade aerofoil.     

History Dependence of the Microstructure on Time-Dependent Deformation During <Emphasis Type="Italic">In-Situ</Emphasis> Cooling of a Nickel-Based Single-Crystal Superalloy

Time-dependent plastic deformation through stress relaxation and creep deformation during in-situ cooling of the as-cast single-crystal superalloy CMSX-4^® has been studied via neutron diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, electro-thermal miniature testing, and analytical modeling across two temperature regimes. Between 1000 °C and 900 °C, stress relaxation prevails and gives rise to softening as evidenced by a decreased dislocation density and the presence of long segment stacking faults in γ phase. Lattice strains decrease in both the γ matrix and γ′ precipitate phases. A constitutive viscoplastic law derived from in-situ isothermal relaxation test under-estimates the equivalent plastic strain in the prediction of the stress and strain evolution during cooling in this case. It is thereby shown that the history dependence of the microstructure needs to be taken into account while deriving a constitutive law and which becomes even more relevant at high temperatures approaching the solvus. Higher temperature cooling experiments have also been carried out between 1300 °C and 1150 °C to measure the evolution of stress and plastic strain close to the γ′ solvus temperature. In-situ cooling of samples using ETMT shows that creep dominates during high-temperature deformation between 1300 °C and 1220 °C, but below a threshold temperature, typically 1220 °C work hardening begins to prevail from increasing γ′ fraction and resulting in a rapid increase in stress. The history dependence of prior accumulated deformation is also confirmed in the flow stress measurements using a single sample while cooling. The saturation stresses in the flow stress experiments show very good agreement with the stresses measured in the cooling experiments when viscoplastic deformation is dominant. This study demonstrates that experimentation during high-temperature deformation as well as the history dependence of the microstructure during cooling plays a key role in deriving an accurate viscoplastic constitutive law for the thermo-mechanical process during cooling from solidification.