Evolution of precipitates in Ni-Co-Cr-W-Mo superalloys with different tungsten contents

The Ni-Co-Cr-W-Mo system is critical for the design of nickel-based superalloys.This system stabilizes different topologically close-packed(TCP)phases in many commercially superalloys with high W and Mo contents.Scanning electron microscopy(SEM),transmission electron microscopy(TEM)and thermodynamic calculations were applied to investigate the thermodynamics of the precipitates in two different W-contained Ni-Co-Cr-WMo superalloys(Alloy 1 and Alloy 2).Computational thermodynamics verifies the experimental observation of theμphase formation as a function of temperature and alloy chemistry,but the kinetics for the precipitation of the M6 C phase do not agree with the experimental findings.The major precipitates of Alloy 1 at temperatures of700℃and 750℃during long-time exposure are M23 C6,γ′phase and MC;for Alloy 2,they are M23 C6,γ′phase,MC,M6 C andμphase.W addition is found to promote the precipitation of M6 C andμphase during exposure.M6 C has higher W and lower Ni content thanμphase,whereas M6 C is an unstable phase that would transform into M12 C after 5000-h exposure at 750℃.A great quantity of needle-likeμphases precipitated after exposure at 750℃for5000 h,which have no effect on the impact properties of Alloy 2.

Effect of annealing and cooling rate on toughness of G115 heat-resistant steels

The effects of annealing before normalizing and different cooling ways, i.e., air cooling, quenching, and water mist cooling after normalizing on the toughness of G115 steels were investigated. The impact tests showed that the annealed samples had better toughness compared to the unannealed samples for three cooling ways. Microstructure observations revealed that the annealed samples had a more uniform grain distribution, smaller size and area fraction of M_(23)C_(6) particles along the grain boundaries, and lower dislocation density than those in the unannealed samples, which performed together for good toughness. Among three cooling ways, air cooling gave the best toughness due to the smallest occupancy of M23C6 particles in the grain boundaries. Thus, the combination of annealing conducted before normalizing and air cooling selected after normalizing can improve the toughness a lot of G115 steels.

Effects of long term aging on microstructure and properties of a tungsten bearing heat resistant alloy

The effects of long-term aging at 700 and 750℃ on microstructure and mechanical properties of a new developed tungsten bearing heat-resistant alloy used for advanced ultra-supercritical power plant was investigated both experimentally and thermodynamically.Experimental results showed that the mechanical properties maintained excellent stability after long-term aging at 700℃ for 10,000h,while the impact absorbing energy decreased sharply after 1000-h aging and then kept constant till 10,000h.The main precipitates after long-term aging at 700 and 750℃ were M23C6,MC and homogeneous γ′-phases.The mass fraction of M23C6 carbides increased with increasing aging time,and M23C6 carbides precipitated in shape of chains and lamellas on grain boundaries.The slight decrease in MC carbides during aging may be due to degradation reaction.The weight fraction of γ′-phase increased with the aging time,and then changed little after 5000h;γ′-phase exhibited excellent microstructure stability and low coarsening rate during long-term aging at 700℃.However,the coarsening rate of γ′-phase was much higher at 750℃.

Characterization and numerical simulation of nucleation-growth-coarsening kinetics of precipitates in G115 martensitic heat resistance steel during long-term aging

The service performance of heat resistance steels is largely determined by the precipitation kinetics.The nucleation-growth-coarsening behaviors of precipitates in G115 martensitic heat resistance steel during long-term aging at 650℃ have been systemically investigated.The microstructural characteristics,precipitate morphology and alloying element distribution were studied by scanning electron microscopy,transmission electron microscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy.The lognormal distribution fitting combined with the multiple regression analysis was adopted to evaluate the precipitate size distributions.Laves phase has longer incubation time,and its coarsening rate is almost one order of magnitude higher in comparison with that of M_(23)C_(6) carbide.Furthermore,the nucleation rate,number density,average radius,and volume fraction of two precipitates are simulated based on the classical nucleation theory and the modified Langer-Schwartz model.The precipitation behavior of Laves phase can be well explained with the Fe-W system as the interfacial energy takes 0.10 J/m^(2).In contrast,the simulation results of M_(23)C_(6) carbide in the Fe-Cr-C system are significantly overestimated,which results from the inhibitory effect of boron on coarsening.

Microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of a new Ni-based heat-resistant alloy during aging at 750℃

Microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of a new candidate Ni-based heat-resistant alloy for advanced ultra-supercritical （A-USC） steam turbine rotors were investigated during aging at 750℃ up to 10000 h. The evolutions of γ＇ particles inside austenitic grain and M_23 C_6 carbides along grain boundaries were characterized according to their morphologies, distributions, and growth kinetics. Mean radius of the γ＇ spherical particles grew from 20.3 to 90.0 nm after aging for 10000 h, and;the corresponding coarse- ning behavior was conformed to the law of Lifschitz-Slyosovd-Wagner （LSW）. The weight fraction of γ＇ particles slightly increased from 10.0 to 12.0 wt. % after aging of long duration at 750 ℃.The Cr-rich M_23C_6 carbides discontinuously precipitated along grain boundaries, while other detrimental phases were not formed during the aging treatment, and hence the strength of grain boundary was enhanced by these discontinuously distributed carbides. The critical size of γ＇ had a direct influence on the maximum hardness of this alloy. Moreover, this alloy presented a good impact toughness for the safety after long time aging at high temperature.

Thermal deformation behavior and microstructure evolution of modified IN617 alloy with different initial states

The thermal deformation behaviors of the as-cast and wrought modified IN617 nickel-based heat-resistant alloys at different temperatures(1000–1180℃)and strain rates(0.01–1 s^(−1))were studied.The constitutive equation was established to describe the relationship of the flow stress,temperature,and strain rate during thermal deformation.The effect of the thermal deformation conditions on the microstructure evolution of alloys was studied using electron backscatter diffraction.The results revealed that the thermal deformation activation energy of the as-cast alloy was greater than that of the wrought alloy.The dynamic recrystallization(DRX)process is slow at intermediate strain rate(0.1 s^(−1))due to the comprehensive influence of various factors,such as the critical strain of DRX nucleation and stored energy.The DRX volume fraction increases with the improvement of deformation temperature.The varied dynamic softening mechanisms induce the different thermal deformation behaviors of as-cast and wrought alloys.The dynamic recovery,discontinuous dynamic recrystallization(DDRX)and nucleation at slip zone caused by strain incompatibility in grains were observed during thermal deformation of as-cast alloys.In the process of thermal deformation of wrought alloys,DDRX was the primary dynamic crystallization mechanism.The continuous dynamic recrystallization was an auxiliary nucleation mechanism.

Evolution of microstructure in reheated coarse-grained zone of G115 novel martensitic heat-resistant steel

Based on the thermal simulation method,a systematical analysis was conducted on the effect of welding peak temperature and the cooling time that takes place from 800 to 500℃ on microstructure,precipitates,substructure and microhardness of the reheated coarse-grained heat-affected zone(CGHAZ)of G115 novel martensitic heat-resistant steel.As revealed from the results,the microstructure of un-altered CGHAZ(UACGHAZ)and supercritically CGHAZ(SCCGHAZ)was lath martensite,and structural heredity occurred.Intercritically reheated CGHAZ(IRCGHAZ)exhibited martensite and over-tempered martensite,and subcritical CGHAZ(SCGHAZ)displayed martensite and under-tempered martensite.The austenite in UACGHAZ and SCCGHAZ was transformed with the diffusion mechanism during the first thermal cycle,but with the non-diffusion mechanism during the second thermal cycle.For this reason,A_(c1) and A_(c3) during the second thermal cycle were significantly lower than those during the first thermal cycle,and A_(c1) and A_(c3) were reduced by nearly 14 and 44℃,respectively.Since the content and stability of the austenite alloy during the second thermal cycle of IRCGHAZ were lower than those during the first thermal cycle,M_(s) increased by nearly 30℃.There were considerable precipitates in the over-tempered region of IRCGHAZ,and the Laves phase was contained,which was not conducive to high-temperature creep property.Moreover,the dislocation density and the number of sub-grains in the region were lower,resulting in a sharp decrease in the microhardness,and it was the weak area in the reheated CGHAZ.

Effect of removing Al and Ti elements on peak flow stress of nickel-based heat-resistant alloy 617

The hot deformation behavior and the microstructure characteristics of alloy 617 and alloy C-HRA-2 were compared and analyzed.The removal of Al and Ti elements has a significant change in the hot deformation of the alloy,and there are two opposite effects on the flow stress before and after recrystallization.The results show that the removal of Al and Ti elements increases the flow stress of the alloy under high temperature or low strain rate deformation conditions.This is mainly due to the increase in the stacking fault energy of the alloy so that the alloy contains a higher twin boundary fraction after dynamic recrystallization(DRX).However,before DRX occurs,that is,at low temperature and high strain rate,the flow stress of this alloy is relatively reduced.This is due to the reduction in Peierls-Nabarro stress,making the alloy more prone to dislocation slip.

Hot deformation behavior of a heat-resistant alloy without γ′-phase

The hot compression behavior of the nickel-based heat-resistant alloy C-HRA-2®was investigated by a Gleeble-1500 thermo-mechanical simulator with the deformation temperature range of 950-1150℃and the strain rate of 0.001-10 s^−1.The constitutive equation of the alloy was established by using a hyperbolic sine function,and the peak stress followed a power law relationship with the Zener-Hollomon parameter(Z).The activation energy was about 446 kJ mol^−1 for the whole hot deformation domain in this alloy.The optimum hot deformation condition was obtained in the temperature range of 1050-1150℃and the strain rate range of 0.005-0.1 s^−1.Unsafe domains during the hot deformation would occur in the strain rate range of 0.1-10 s^−1 with inhomogeneous microstructure and high-density twins in the alloy.The dominant nucleation mechanism of dynamic recrystallization(DRX)was continuous dynamic recrystallization with sub-grain rotation at high strain rate,while DRX at low strain rate was discontinuous dynamic recrystallization with original grain boundaries bulging.