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This invention relates to the directional solidification of superalloys, in particular nickel-based superalloys, by imposition of a predetermined temperature profile in the solidification front and, depending on the desired results, a predetermined rate of advance of said solidification front, whereas castings of markedly superior fatigue resistance are produced.
An area that has been almost totally overlooked in the optimization of properties in directionally solidified superalloys is the control of microstructural features through the application of a magnetic field during solidification. The influence of a magnetic field on the microstructural features of a nickel-base superalloys is investigated. Studies were performed on the dendritic MAR-M 246+Hf alloy, which was solidified under both a 5 K gauss magnetic field and under no-applied-field conditions. The possible influences of the magnetic field on the solidification process were observed by studying variations in microstructural features including volume fraction, surface area, number, and shape of the carbide particles. Stereological factors analyzed also included primary and secondary dendrite arm spacing and the volume fraction of the interdendritic eutectic constituent. Microprobe analysis was performed to determine the chemistry of the carbides, dendrites, and interdendritic constituents, and how it varied between field and no-field solidification samples. Experiments involving periodic application and removal of the magnetic field were also performed in order to permit a comparison with structural variations observed in a MAR-M 246+Hf alloy solidified during KC-135 high-g, low-g maneuvers.
The effect of hydrogen on the tensile deformation behavior of PWA 1480 is presented. Tensile tests were interrupted at different plastic strain levels to observe the development of the dislocation structure. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) foils were cut perpendicular to the tensile axis to allow the deformation of both phases to be simultaneously observed as well as parallel to zone axes (III) to show the superdislocations on their slip planes. Similar to other nickel-base superalloys, hydrogen was detrimental to the room temperature tensile properties of PWA 1480. There was little effect on strength, however the material was severely embrittled. Even without hydrogen, the elongation-to-failure was only approximately 3 percent. The tensile fracture surface was made up primarily of ductile voids with regions of cleavage fracture. These cleavage facets are the eutectic (gamma') in the microstructure. It was shown by quantitative fractography that hydrogen embrittles the eutectic (gamma') and causes the crack path to seek out and fracture through the eutectic (gamma'). There was two to three times the amount of cleavage on the fracture surface of the hydrogen-charged samples than on the surface of the uncharged samples. The effect of hydrogen can also be seen in the dislocation structure. There is a marked tendency for dislocation trapping in the gamma matrix with and without hydrogen at all plastic strain levels. Without hydrogen there is a high dislocation density in the gamma matrix leading to strain exhaustion in this region and failure through the matrix. The dislocation structure at failure with hydrogen is slightly different. The TEM foils cut parallel to zone axes (III) showed dislocations wrapping around gamma precipitates. Zone axes (001) foils show that there is a lower dislocation density in the gamma matrix which can be linked to the effects of hydrogen on the fracture behavior. The primary activity in the gamma precipitates is in the form of superlattice intrinsic stacking faults (SISFs). These faults have also been reported in other ordered alloys and superalloys.
The objective of this work is to correlate the mechanical properties of the Ni-based superalloy MAR M246(Hf) used in the Space Shuttle Main Engine with its structural characteristics by systematic study of optical photomicrographs and differential thermal analysis. The authors developed a method of predicting the liquidus and solidus temperature of various nickel based superalloys (MAR-M247, Waspaloy, Udimet-41, polycrystalline and single crystals of CMSX-2 and CMSX-3) and comparing the predictions with the experimental differential thermal analysis (DTA) curves using Perkin-Elmer DTA 1700. The method of predicting these temperatures is based on the additive effect of the components dissolved in nickel. The results were compared with the experimental values.
The room temperature and 300 C tensile behavior of a single crystal superalloy, PWA 1480, has been studied as a function of internal hydrogen concentration and microstructure. Hydrogen is trapped at the porosity and eutectic gamma/gamma in the microstructure, and the effect of these trapping sites on the tensile behavior will be discussed. There is no effect of hydrogen on strength, however, the strain to failure decreases steadily with increasing hydrogen content up to 200 ppm. Cleavage of the eutectic gamma/gamma occurs without hydrogen, but the presence of internal hydrogen causes cracking in the eutectic gamma/gamma at a much earlier stage of deformation leading to a small total strain. In contrast to many superalloys with a high volume fraction of gamma precipitates, there was no evidence of shearing of the gamma, and it was found that at all strains the dislocations are trapped in the gamma matrix. The effect of hydrogen on this behavior and its relation to fracture is described.
The microstructure of a single-crystal nickel-base superalloy, PWA 1480, has been varied by heat treatment and hot isostatic pressing in order to study the role of the gamma/gamma-prime eutectic and porosity on subsequent tensile behavior. The level of porosity was found not to affect any of the tensile properties, while the gamma/gamma-prime eutectic strongly influenced ductility. Eliminating the gamma/gamma-prime eutectic increased ductility which was attributed to the cleavage fracture of this constituent. It is proposed that such cleavage of the gamma/gamma-prime eutectic is initiated by the stress created from impinging slip bands, promoting shear localization, and final fracture along 111 slip planes. The precise nature of this fracture process is discussed, with emphasis on the role of the gamma/gamma-prime microstructure. The deformation structure of PWA 1480 was also studied, and while different in some respects from many other single-crystal superalloys, its fracture process appears to be similar.
The mechanism of the formation of superlattice staking faults in the single-crystal nickel-base superalloy PWA 1480 was investigated by observing deformation microstructures in the superalloy single crystals in the temperature range 20-1100 C. Results showed that, in addition to superlattice stacking faults observed after slow strain rate deformation at temperatures from 700 to 950 C, a high-density of superlattice staking faults formed after deformation at 200 C and below. The mechanisms of fault formation, which are different in the high- and the low-temperature regimes, are discussed.
A large body of high temperature cyclic oxidation data generated from tests at NASA Lewis Research Center involving gravimetric/time values for 36 Ni- and Co-base superalloys was reduced to a single attack parameter, K(sub a), for each run. This K(sub a) value was used to rank the cyclic oxidation resistance of each alloy at 1000, 1100, and 1150 C. These K(sub a) values were also used to derive an estimating equation using multiple linear regression involving log(sub 10)K(sub a) as a function of alloy chemistry and test temperature. This estimating equation has a high degree of fit and could be used to predict cyclic oxidation behavior for similar alloys and to design an optimum high strength Ni-base superalloy with maximum high temperature cyclic oxidation resistance. The critical alloy elements found to be beneficial were Al, Cr, and Ta.
The influence of primary orientation on the elastic response of a (001)-oriented nickel-base single-crystal superalloy, PWA 1480, was investigated under mechanical, thermal, and combined thermal and mechanical loading conditions using finite element techniques. Elastic stress analyses were performed using the MARC finite element code on a square plate of PWA 1480 material. Primary orientation of the single crystal superalloy was varied in increments of 2 deg, from 0 to 10 deg, from the (001) direction. Two secondary orientations (0 and 45 deg) were considered, with respect to the global coordinate system, as the primary orientation angle was varied. The stresses developed within the single crystal plate were determined for each loading condition. In this paper, the influence of the angular offset between the primary crystal orientation and the loading direction on the elastic stress response of the PWA 1480 plate is presented for different loading conditions. The influence of primary orientation angle, when constrained between the bounds considered, was not found to be as significant as the influence of the secondary orientation angle, which is not typically controlled.
This presentation consists of two parts: comments on the results of measurements on thermophysical properties based on the paper, 'Things Mother Never Taught Me (About Thermophysical Properties of Solids)' and results of thermophysical property measurements on selected solid and molten semiconductors and a proprietary superalloy. The first part may be considered as a tutorial for those involved in using or procuring thermophysical property data. The second part is presented as illustrations of what has been accomplished on molten materials at the Thermophysical Properties Research Laboratory (TPRL). The materials include Ge, PbTe, PbSnTe, HgCdTe and a superalloy.
The electron beam welding process is used to investigate the weldability of the Ni-based superalloy Udimet 720LI. This is a modified form of the alloy Udimet 720, which has reduced concentrations of interstitial elements such as boron, silicon, and carbon. The history of high strength superalloys like this one suggests that welding will be difficult because of their tendency towards hot cracking during the welding process, or strain-age cracking during the post-weld aging process. Studies were done on several sizes of weldability test specimens to determine if Udimet 720LI will exhibit cracking tendencies. It was found that the alloy was not susceptible to hot cracking unless it had received the four-step aging heat treatment that is recommended by the manufacturer. It was also found that a restrained weldment is susceptible to strain-age cracking; however, if the weldment is allowed to deform then warpage can occur instead of cracking.
Long-term 1093 K heat treatments of three commercial superalloy sheet materials were undertaken in air -IAI and vacuum. With either exposure, significant precipitation of second phases occurred in the Co-base Haynes(R) Alloy 188 (HA 188) and the Ni-base Haynes(R) Alloy 230 (HA 230); however, much less precipitation was found in the exposed Ni-base alloy Inconel(R) 617 (IN 617). Although some grain growth occurred in HA 198, no changes in the grain size of either HA 230 or IN 617 were observed after 22,500 h at temperature. Oxidation during air heat treatments led to weight gain due to the formation of chromia + spinel scales and surface-connected grain boundary pits/oxides in all three superalloys. Both the weight gain and depth of intergranular attack were dependent on the square root of time, which is indicative of diffusion-controlled phenomena. Because many alloy samples had neighbors in close proximity, most vacuum heat treated specimens did not suffer significant loss of volatile elements. However, some exposed samples were subjected to unrestricted vacuum heat treatments, allowing estimates of volatilization to be made. Based on the data for HA 188, the weight loss during 1093 K vacuum exposure was diffusion controlled once the inhibiting effects of surface films on the as-received alloys were broken down.
An investigation was conducted to describe topologically close packed (TCP) phase instability as a function of composition in the advanced Ni-base superalloy Rene N6. TCP phases are detrimental to overall high-temperature performance of Ni-base superalloys because of their brittle nature and because they deplete the Ni-rich matrix of potent solid solution strengthening elements. Thirty-four variations of polycrystalline Rene N6 determined from a design-of-experiments approach were cast and homogenized at 1315"C for 80 hours followed by exposure at 10930C for 400 hours to promote TCP formation. The alloys had the following composition ranges in atomic percent: Co 10.61 to 16.73%, Mo 0.32 to 1.34%, W 1.85 to 2.52%, Re 1.80 to 2.1 1 %, Ta 2.36 to 3.02%, Al 11.90 to 14.75%, and Cr 3.57 to 6.23%. Physical and chemical characteristics of all n-ticrostructures obtained were described using various analytical techniques. From these observations, a mathematical description of TCP occurrence (omega and P phase) was generated for polycrystalline Rene N6.
Topologically close packed (TCP) phase instability in third generation Ni-base superalloys is understood to hinder component performance when used in high-temperature jet engine applications. The detrimental effects on high temperature performance from these brittle phases includes weakening of the Ni-rich matrix through the depletion of potent solid solution strengthening elements. Thirty-four compositional variations of polycrystalline Rene N6 were defined from a design-of-experiments approach and then cast, homogenized, and finally aged to promote TCP formation. Our prior work reported on the results of the multiple retression modeling of these alloys in order to predict the volume fraction of TCP. This paper will present further regression modeling results on these alloys in order to predict the occurrence of TCP in third generation Ni-base superalloy microstructures. Kinetic results are also discussed.
Abstract This study investigated the feasibility of using conventional casting technique to fabricate refractory wires reinforced superalloy composites. These composites were being developed for advanced rocket engine turbine blades and other high temperature applications operating up to 2000 F. Several types of refractory metal wires such as W- Th, W-Re, Mo-Hf-C and W-HF-C reinforced waspaloy were experimentally cast and heat treated at 2000 F up to 48 hrs. Scanning electron microscope analysis was conducted in regions adjacent to the wire-matrix interface to determine the reaction zone and chemical compatibility resulting from material interdiffusion. It was concluded that fabrication using conventional casting may be feasible because the wire-matrix reaction zone thickness was comparable to similar composites produced by arc-sprayed monotape with hot isostatic pressing technique, Moreover, it was also found that the chemical compatibility could be improved significantly through a slight modification of the superalloy matrix compositions.
To improve scale adhesion, single crystal superalloys have been desulfurized to levels below 1 ppmw by hydrogen annealing. A transition to fully adherent behavior has been shown to occur at a sulfur level of about 0.2 ppmw, as demonstrated for PWA 1480, PWA 1484, and Rene N5 single crystal superalloys in 1100-1150 C cyclic oxidation tests up to 2000 h. Small additions of yttrium (15 ppmw) also have been effective in producing adhesion for sulfur contents of about 5 ppmw. Thus the critical Y/S ratio required for adhesion was on the order of 3-to-1 by weight (1-to-1 atomic), in agreement with values estimated from solubility products for yttrium sulfides. While hydrogen annealing greatly improved an undoped alloy, yielding <= 0.01 ppmw S, it also produced benefits for Y-doped alloys without measurably reducing the sulfur content.
Four single crystal EPM (enabling propulsion materials) developmental airfoil superalloys were hydrogen annealed at 1300 C for up to 100 hours to remove sulfur and improve oxidation resistance. Although the 1100 and 1150 C cyclic oxidation resistance was remarkably improved by annealing for 24 or 100 hours, the behavior was still considerably inferior to that of commercially available single crystal superalloys, especially those that are either Y-doped or hydrogen annealed. Excessive degradation in the developmental alloys appeared to be correlated with low Cr contents and, to a lesser extent, high Co and Re contents.
There is a need to increase the temperature capabilities of superalloy turbine disks. This would allow full utilization of higher temperature combustor and airfoil concepts under development. One approach to meet this goal is to modify the processing and chemistry of advanced alloys, while preserving the ability to use rapid cooling supersolvus heat treatments to achieve coarse grain, fine gamma prime microstructures. An important step in this effort is to understand the key high temperature tensile properties of advanced alloys as they exist during supersolvus heat treatments. This could help in projecting cracking tendencies of disks during quenches from supersolvus heat treatments. The objective of this study was to examine the tensile properties of two advanced disk superalloys during simulated quenching heat treatments. Specimens were cooled from the solution heat treatment temperatures at controlled rates, interrupted, and immediately tensile tested at various temperatures. The responses and failure modes were compared and related to the quench cracking tendencies of disk forgings.