Research on the solidified microstructure and segregation behaviors of the UNS N10276 alloy produced by electroslag remelting

In this study,the solidified microstructure and segregation behaviors of the alloying elements and precipitate behaviors of the UNS N10276 alloy in a large-scale electroslag remelting(ESR)ingot were studied.Further,the formation of the solidified microstructure and segregation of ESR were systematically analyzed via thermodynamic calculations.The ESR ingot of the UNS N10276 alloy exhibits a typical dendritic structure.The secondary dendrite spacing at the head of the ingot is clearly larger than that at the bottom of the ingot.The alloying elements(e.g.,Mo,Mn,Si,and C),which are positive segregation elements,segregate to the interdendritic zones during the solidification process.However,Fe,W,and Cr segregate to the dendritic trunk zones,indicating that they are negative segregation elements.Among the alloying elements,Mo segregates the most,especially at the head of the ESR ingot.Majority of the precipitates that precipitate in the interdendritic zones and at grain boundaries belong to large-scale μ and M6C phases,respectively.Mo is the main element of the precipitates.The precipitates at the head of the ESR ingot are more abundant and larger than those at the bottom of the ingot.Hence,to improve the metallurgical quality and hot working properties of the UNS N10276 alloy,the segregation of the Mo element should be minimized,whereas the formation of the precipitates should be reduced as much as possible during the optimization of the composition and production processes.

Effect of Precipitation on Hot Deformation Behavior and Processing Maps of Nickel-Base UNS N10276 Alloy

The hot deformation characteristics and processing maps of aged nickel-base UNS N10276 alloy were inves- tigated and compared with those of solution-treated UNS N10276 alloy at temperatures of 950-1250 ℃ and strain rates between 0.01 and 10 s-1. The dominant precipitated phase in the aged alloy was identified as topologically close-packed （TCP） # phase enriched in Mo and Ni. The precipitates present in the UNS N10276 alloy could significantly facilitate flow softening after peak stress at temperatures lower than 1150 ℃ and strain rates higher than 0.01 s-1. Processing maps at true strains of 0.1-0.9 were developed using the dynamic materials model and experimental flow stress data. Although aging treatment slightly shrank the suitable hot working window of this alloy, the aged alloy showed higher peak efficiencies of power dissipation and smaller unstable regions in comparison with solution-treated alloy. Furthermore, aging treatment eliminated the instability region of processing maps at true strains of 0.2-0.5. The precipitated phase promoted dynamic recrystallization （DRX） by the particle-stimulated nucleation （PSN） mechanism, which resulted in the larger fraction of DRX as well as finer and more uniform grain structure in the aged alloy specimens compared to the solution-treated alloy.