Repairing polycrystalline IN 100 using additive manufacturing (CRADA NFE-17-06791 Final Report)
The overall goal of this Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF) technical collaboration project is to extend the use of the laser blown powder additive manufacturing process to enable the repair of polycrystalline high γ' Ni base super alloys, and to qualify the repaired parts for end use. The goal of phase 1 of this project was to evaluate the cracking susceptibility of Inconel 100 samples, and to identify parameters that would yield crack free repair deposits on representative geometries using a surrogate material as a substrate. A detailed design of experiments was performed in conjunction with thermomechanical modeling to determine processing conditions. A set of process parameters were identified which yielded minimal cracking. Further modeling was used to identify the preheat condition necessary to obtain crack free deposits. Following identification of the preheat, a furnace was integrated within the chamber of the blown powder Direct Energy Deposition (DED) system, and deposits were fabricated with on a preheated furnace. The results show that crack free deposits with dimensions 35x15x0.5 mm 3 can be fabricated. With this success obtained in phase 1 the goal of phase 2, if awarded, would be to fabricate the deposit on the actual IN 100 substrates develop heat treatment procedures and qualify the repair procedures.