Rolling-assisted direct energy deposited Inconel 718:Microstructural evolution and mechanical properties after optimized heat treatment

Post-heat treatment is a necessary and important step for additive-manufactured products to relieve residual stress and to further improve mechanical performance.In this work,the heat treatment strat-egy for Inconel 718 superalloy fabricated by rolling-assisted laser-directed energy deposition(L-DED)has been designed and systematically investigated for the first time.The results show that the designed ho-mogenization heat treatment at 1080℃ for 10 min can effectively dissolve most of the detrimental Lave phases existing in the rolling-assisted L-DED samples.Meanwhile,it results in a homogenous grain struc-ture through static recrystallization,while maintaining a similar prior-refined grain size of∼8μm.On this basis,a high number density ofγ″andγ′precipitates appear in the microstructure after applying a subsequent double-aging heat treatment.The optimized microstructure through such effective post-heat treatment designed in this work has led to a significant increase in material strength at both the room and elevated temperatures while maintaining good ductility.

In-situ study on hydrogen bubble evolution in the liquid Al/solid Ni interconnection by synchrotron radiation X-ray radiography

Synchrotron X-ray radiography was used to carry out an in-situ observation of the hydrogen bubble evolution in the liquid Al/solid Ni interconnection. The individual bubble mainly grows in a stochastic way during heating. The size distribution for groups of bubbles follows a Gaussian distribution in the early stage and Lifshitz-Slyozov-Wagner(LSW) diffusion controlled distribution in the final stage. The intermetallic compounds(IMCs) first form during solidification, following by the hydrogen bubbles. The bubbles between two adjacent Al3Ni grains grow unidirectionally along the liquid channel, with the bottom being impeded by the Al3Ni phase and the radius of the growth front being smaller. For the bubbles at triple junctions, they grow along the liquid channel and the crack with morphology transition.

Static coarsening behaviour of lamellar microstructure in selective laser melted Ti–6Al–4V

Static coarsening mechanism of selective laser melted(SLMed) Ti–6Al–4V with a lamellar microstructure was established at temperatures from 700℃ to 950℃. Microstructure evolution revealed that high heat treatment temperature facilitated martensite decomposition and promoted lamellae growth. At each temperature, the growth rate decreased with increasing holding time. The static coarsening behaviour of SLMed Ti–6Al–4V can be interpreted by Lifshitz, Slyozov, and Wagner(LSW) theory. The coarsening coefficient were 0.33, 0.33–0.4, 0.4–0.5 for 700–800℃, 900℃ and 950℃, respectively. This indicated the coarsening mechanism was bulk diffusion at 700–800℃, and a combination of bulk diffusion and interface reaction at 900℃ and 950℃ conditions.

Ambiguous temperature difference in aerodynamic levitation process: Modelling, solving and application

The aerodynamic levitation provides an efficient technique for the research on thermophysical properties and solidification behavior of refractory materials. However, there is a nonnegligible temperature differences across sample, causing unexpected uncertainty of measurement, such as, thermal expansivity and undercooling limit. We establish thermal filed model with properly simplified boundary condition, and derive quantitative expressions of this ambiguous temperature difference. Here we show that the temperature difference not only related to the average temperature, relative size and thermal conductivity of sample, but significantly influenced by the rotation pattern of sample. A huge temperature differences is almost inevitable when the sample with low thermal conductivity and high melting point is smelted in stationary suspension pattern, however, a drastically reduction of temperature difference can be fulfilled by simply making the sample rotation in up to down pattern. The thermal filed simulation was used to confirm the validity of these theoretical expressions. This work shed light on temperature difference in aerodynamic levitation. Based on this work, one can simply estimate the extent of temperature difference across the sample, and regulated that conveniently if needed, which benefit for novel material preparation and solidification mechanism study based on this technique.

Helium Bubble Growth in He^(+) Ions Implanted 304L Stainless Steel Processed by Laser Powder Bed Fusion During Post-Irradiation Annealing at 600℃

The abundancy of defect sinks in the microstructure of laser powder bed fusion(LPBF) processed austenitic stainless steels was found to be beneficial for helium resistance.In the current study,the influence of the novel microstructure in LPBF processed 304 L on the helium bubble growth behaviour was investigated using transmission electron microscopy in samples implanted with He^(+) ion and post-irradiation annealing treated at 600℃ for 1 h.Two variants of LPBF processed 304 L samples were used,one in as-built condition and the other solution-annealed.The comparison between the two samples indicated that the helium bubble growth was inhibited and remained stable in the as-built sample but coarsened significantly in the solution-annealed sample.The sub-grain boundaries and oxide nano-inclusions acted as defect sinks to trap helium atoms and inhibited the growth of helium bubble in the as-built sample under the post-irradiation annealing conditions used.

Kinetic role of Cu content in reaction process, behavior and their relationship among Cu-Zr-C system

The influence of Cu content on the reaction process, reaction behavior and obtained products in the Cu-ZrC system, as well as their relationships, were investigated. The results showed that Zr C was synthesized through the diffusion and dissolution of C into a Cu-Zr liquid. Increasing the Cu content enhanced the amount of Cu-Zr liquid formed at the early stage but decreased the amount of C atoms dissolving into the melt at unit time. Consequently, the ignition time initially decreased and then increased. Conversely, with an increased Cu content, the energy required for igniting the neighboring unreacted powders increased,while the heat released by the reaction and the dwell time of the compact at high temperatures decreased.These effects then resulted in the reduction of combustion wave velocity, combustion temperature and Zr C particle size. Furthermore, the synthesis of ZrC is a multistage process, which provides a nonuniform distributed Zr C particle size. The sub-μm Zr C particle reinforced Cu matrix composite was fabricated by adding a ZrC-Cu master alloy prepared through a self-propagating high-temperature synthesis reaction into liquid Cu.

Effect of Heat Treatment on the Microstructure,Mechanical Properties and Corrosion Resistance of Selective Laser Melted 304L Stainless Steel

The influence of heat treatment holding temperatures from 600 to 1300℃ on the microstructure,mechanical properties and corrosion resistance in selective laser melted(SLMed)304L stainless steel is investigated in this work.The results reveal that there is no remarkable microstructure change after holding at 600℃ for 2 h,while recrystallization leads to a slight decrease in grain size in the temperature range of 700–900℃.The heat treatment at temperatures from 1000 to 1300℃ for 2 h obviously affects the morphology of grains in SLMed 304L stainless steel.Combining effects of grain coarsening,delta-ferrite(δ)phases reduction and residual stress release during heat treatment lead to the reduction of yield strength and an increasing elongation.The elongation of the samples heat treated at 800℃ for 2 h is,however,significantly decreased due to the increase in the amount of sigma(σ)phase.A remarkable increase in the amount ofδferrite results in an increase in yield strength but a decrease in ductility after heat treatment at 1300℃ for 2 h.The corrosion resistance of the samples heat treated at 1300℃ is significantly improved due to the substantial reduction of brittle phase(σ).There is no obvious effect of the presence ofδferrite on corrosion behavior.

Mechanical Property Evaluation of a SLMed Martensitic Stainless Steel

A martensitic stainless steel AISI420 fabricated by selective laser melting(SLM)and post-processed by austenitizing and tempering heat treatment was investigated in this study.The as-fabricated SLMed AISI420 showed a strong mechanical property anisotropy and low ductility in the longitudinal direction.Detailed microstructural characterization revealed the presence of austenite and a relatively sharp solidification texture in the as-fabricated state,while the sharp texture was considered as the cause for the mechanical property anisotropy.In contrast,a fully martensitic microstructure with a very weak texture was achieved after the austenitizing and tempering heat treatment.The mechanical property anisotropy was also fully eliminated,witnessing a significant improvement in the ductility,and thus,comparable mechanical performance with the wrought product was achieved in this study.