MODULE-3

Syllabus: Superalloys:- metallurgy, characteristics - wrought, cast

superalloys, properties -crystal structures, phases in superalloys, Iron-
Nickel-base superalloys, Nickel-base superalloys, Cobalt-base superalloys, -
elements causing brittle phase formation, detrimental tramp elements,
elements producing oxidation and hot corrosion resistance- microstructure,
gamma prime, gamma double prime, Carbide and Boride phases,
strengthening mechanisms- Heat treatment.
Detailed Syllabus
Q.1. Characteristics of Superalloys
Q2.
• The iron-based grades, which are less expensive than cobalt or nickel-based grades, are of three types:
✓ Alloys that can be strengthened by a martensitic type of transformation,
✓ Alloys that are austenitic and are strengthened by a sequence of hot and cold working
✓ Austenitic alloys strengthened by precipitation hardening.
• The AISI 600 series of superalloys consists of six subclasses of iron-based alloys:

• 601 through 604: Martensitic low-alloy steels.

• 610 through 613: Martensitic secondary hardening steels.

• 614 through 619: Martensitic chromium steels.

• 630 through 635: Semiaustenitic and martensitic precipitation-hardening stainless steels.

• 650 through 653: Austenitic steels strengthened by hot/cold work.

• 660 through 665: Austenitic superalloys; all grades except alloy 661 are strengthened by second-phase
precipitation.
 Cobalt-Based superalloys
• The cobalt-base superalloys have their origins in the Stellite alloys, designed for
their wear resistance in the early 1900’s.
• Although in terms of properties the hardened nickel-based alloys ("Y" alloy) have
taken the majority share of the superalloy market, cast and wrought cobalt alloys
continue to be used because of the following characteristics:
✓Higher melting points than nickel (or iron) alloys
✓Superior hot corrosion resistance to gas turbine atmospheres
✓Superior thermal fatigue resistance and weldability over nickel superalloys
• Compared to nickel superalloys, the stress rupture curve for cobalt superalloys is
flatter and shows lower strength up to 930°C. The greater stability of the carbides,
which provide strengthening of cobalt superalloys, is then exhibited.
• This factor is the primary reason cobalt superalloys are used in the lower stress,
higher temperature stationary vanes for gas turbines.
• Maximum wear resistance is obtained in alloys 611, 612, and
613, which are used in high-temperature aircraft bearings and
machinery parts subjected to sliding contact.
• Oxidation resistance increases with chromium content.
• The martensitic chromium steels, particularly alloy 616, are
used for steam-turbine blades.
• Crack sensitivity makes most of the martensitic steels difficult
to weld by conventional methods.
• These alloys should be annealed or tempered prior to welding
The sequence of processes used for the production of turbine disc alloys by ingot metallurgy.
(Casting Route)
The sequence of processes
used for the production of
turbine disc alloys by
powder metallurgy.
Single Crystal Growth
Q.3 Differentiate between wrought and Cast Superalloys
 Wrought Superalloys
✓ A wrought alloy generally is one that started from cast billets but has been deformed and reheated
numerous times to reach its final state.
✓ Wrought alloys are more homogenous than cast alloys, which usually have segregation caused by
the solidification process.
✓ Segregation is a natural consequence of solidification of alloys but may be more severe in some
cases than in others.
✓ Wrought alloys generally are considered more ductile than cast alloys.
✓ Thus, mill product shapes such as bar are wrought products because they can be made best by
working, which generates the optimal ductility for processing and for subsequent use.
✓ Forgings obviously are also wrought products and take advantage of the superior ductility of
wrought material to produce certain larger shapes, such as gas turbine disks.
✓ Not all alloy compositions can be made in wrought form.
✓ Some alloys can only be fabricated and used in cast form.
✓ Some very difficult to work (wrought) alloys can be processed by powder metallurgy (P/M), usually
to prepare them for final forging.
✓ In the intermediate-temperature application areas of gas turbines, where massive disks are
frequently necessary, standard wrought or wrought P/M disks routinely are employed. Powder
metallurgy processing has been employed to directly produce component blanks for final machining
but such processing is rare.
 Cast Superalloys
✓ Cast alloys are found in the hot section areas of gas turbines, especially as airfoils, that is, blades
and vanes. Most castings are polycrystalline (PC) equiaxed, but others are directionally solidified
(DS).
✓ The PC castings contain many grains that may vary in size from one component to another.
✓ Directionally solidified castings may have a multiplicity of grains all aligned parallel to each other
(usually parallel to the longitudinal or airfoil axis of a turbine blade or vane component) and are
known as columnar grain directionally solidified (CGDS) parts.
✓ On the other hand, a DS casting may have only one grain (single-crystal directionally solidified, or
SCDS) with a specified crystal axis parallel to the airfoil major axis.
✓ Castings are intrinsically stronger than forgings at elevated temperature.
✓ The coarse grain size of PC castings, as compared to finer-grained forgings, favors strength at high
temperatures.
✓ In addition, casting compositions can be tailored effectively for high temperature strength,
inasmuch as forgeability characteristics are not applicable.
✓ For example, the highest creep-rupture strength at elevated temperatures can be achieved in
nickel-base superalloy castings for high stress, high-temperature turbine blade applications.
✓ The fine-grain structure of forgings, on the other hand, favors higher yield strengths and better
low-cycle fatigue (LCF) strengths at low-to-intermediate temperatures, thus, the use of forgings in
disk applications.
Q.4 Explain the effect of alloying elements on nickel based super alloys
Major Alloying Elements of Nickel Based Super Alloys
Microstructure and Phases in Superalloys based on alloying elements
Q5. EXPLAIN THE CRYSTAL STRUCTURE AND VARIOUS
PHASES OBSERVED IN SUPERALLOYS
 CRYSTAL STRUCTURE AND PHASES IN SUPERALLOYS

1.

2.
Phases Observed in Superalloys
μ- (Rhombohedral) Laves-A2B (Hexagonal)
σ- (Hexagonal)
Microstructure-Properties of Super Alloys
 Q.6 Elements Causing Brittle Phase Formation

✓ Many elements (cobalt, molybdenum, tungsten, rhenium,

chromium, etc.), although added for their favorable
alloying qualities, can participate, in some circumstances, in
undesirable Topologically Close-packed (TCP) phase
formation (σ, μ, ,Laves, etc.).
✓ TCPs usually form as plates (which appear as needles on a
single-plane microstructure).
✓ TCPs are potentially damaging for two reasons:
i. they tie up γ and γ' strengthening elements in a non-
useful form, thus reducing creep strength
ii. they can act as crack initiators because of their brittle
nature.
✓ The TCP phases usually have low ductility (are brittle) and
cause loss of mechanical (and sometimes corrosion)
properties when present in anything more than trace
amounts. Microstructure
 Q.6 Elements Causing Brittle Phase Formation……….. ..
✓ Close-packed phases are usual undesirable, brittle phases which are formed
during heat treatment.
✓ The structure of these phases consists of close-packed atoms in layers with
relatively large interatomic distances one below the other.
✓ The characteristic topology is generated when the layers sandwich larger
atoms, shown in Figure. σ - Phase
✓ This structure is called topologically close-packed (TCP).
μ - Phase
✓ In the opposite the γ´ phase is close-packed in all directions and is called
geometrically close-packed (GCP).
✓ Alloys containing transition metals, such as tantalum, niobium, chromium,
tungsten or molybdenum, are the most violable alloys to the formation of
TCP phases.
✓ The common forms of TCPs are σ, µ and Laves.
✓ The hard and plate-like σ phase has a composition of the type
(Cr,Mo)x(Ni,Co)y ,possesses 30 atoms per cell, the structure is similar to the
carbides M23C6 and is the most undesirable form.
✓ Crack initiation caused by the shape and the hardness of the phase leads to
brittle failure.
✓ The σ phase has also the responsibility for shortened creep rupture life.
✓ The µ phases have a similar composition such the σ phases with a majority Figure. TCP phases
of Mo and Co.
✓ The structure is similar to the carbides M6C and possesses 13 atoms per cell.
Q.7 Explain the various strengthening Mechanism of Superalloys
with the help of microstructure
Microstructure and Phases in Superalloys based on alloying elements
(Explain Elaboartely -Refer Age-Hardening)
 Q8. Heat treatment of Superalloys

Ans:
1. Stress Relieving
2. Annealing
3. Precipitation Strengthening
i. Solution Treating
ii. Quenching
iii. Age Hardening (Precipitation Hardening)
1. Stress Relieving
✓ Done to minimize residual stress
✓ For work hardened and non-age hardenable alloys
✓ No recrystallization
✓ Temp: 430oC to 870oC
✓ Depends on composition
✓ Casted superalloys should be stress relieved if they have a complex shape ( possibility of crack initiation ),
stringent tolerances and after they have been welded.
Conditions for employing stress relieving for superalloys:
✓ When they are not precipitation (age) hardened
✓ When they are of an extremely complex shape that might crack during the initial heating-up period in
service
✓ When their dimensional tolerances are stringent
✓ After they have been welded
1. Stress Relieving………..
✓ It is important to note that stress-relief heat treatments are not normal practice with cast nickel-base
superalloys.
✓ It is not possible to tabulate the stress-relief cycles for cast alloys, because they are particularly
dependent on chemistry, geometry, and prior processing.
✓ For many alloys, stress-relief cycles can be developed by empirical studies of stress decay with time
and temperature, as determined by nondestructive means such as x-ray diffraction.
✓ This is not an effective technique for superalloys, where extensive material testing of critical
properties and subsequent data analysis must be performed to determine the efficacy of a given cycle.
✓ Particular care must be given to evaluate the effects of stress relief on such time-dependent effects as
low-cycle fatigue, crack growth, and creep rupture.
✓ In-process annealing or stress relief of weldments should immediately follow welding of
precipitation-hardenable alloys where highly restrained joints are involved.
✓ If the configuration of the weldment does not permit high-temperature annealing, aging can be used
for stress relieving the joints.
 2. Annealing (Full Annealing )

✓ To produce recrystallized grain structure

✓ The practice is really only applicable to wrought alloys of the nonhardening type.
✓ Softens the work hardened alloys
✓ Temp: 700oC to 1200oC
✓ Depends on alloy composition and extent of work hardening
➢ Full Annealing is used
✓ To achieve a complete recrystallized structure with maximum softness,
✓ To improve ductility
✓ To reduce hardness
✓ To simplify forming
✓ To prepare for welding
✓ To reduce residual stresses
✓ To generate specific microstructures
 2. Annealing (Full Annealing )……….

✓ Annealing is normally applied to wrought solid-solution-strengthened

nickel based superalloys.
✓ The wrought alloys are very crack-sensitive and therefore they have to
be annealed during fabrication to reduce forming and welding stresses.
✓ After annealing the grain size of the alloys depends on the amount of
the prior cold or hot deformations and on the annealing temperature.
✓ The effect of cold work and annealing temperature is shown in Figure.
✓ The grain size rises with increasing annealing temperature.
✓ Above a critical amount of cold work the grain size is
✓ constant.
✓ In general the holding time at annealing temperature amounts to 1 to 2
hours.
✓ High alloyed materials such as Astelroy require longer holding times
for dissolving microconstituents.
3. Heat treatment for strengthening (Precipitation Strengthening)
i) Solution treating
a)
✓ Solution treatment is utilized to dissolve second phases (Age
hardening constituents and carbides) to improve corrosion
resistance, to prepare for aging treatments and to homogenize the
microstructure.
✓ The main task is to dissolve the γ´ phase as well as the carbides.
✓ The solution treatment temperatures of the γ´ strengthened
superalloys are defined mainly by the desired properties after the
aging process.
✓ The atmosphere has to be protective or even vacuum is essential.
✓ To achieve better creep-rupture properties wrought alloys have to b)
be heat treated at elevated temperatures.
✓ Optimum short-time tensile properties are produced at lower heat
treatment temperature.
✓ With increasing temperature an elevated grain growth exists and
more carbides are dissolved. Due to the strength decreases as
shown in Figure a.
✓ Moreover the coarser γ´ particles are the reason for lower creep-
rupture strength as shown in Figure b.
✓ The diagrams illustrate that this optimal solution temperature is
existent to achieve high yield strength and lengthened rupture life,
ii) Quenching
✓ Quenching is used to obtain the solid-solution matrix at room temperature. Moreover it is realized
to obtain a finer γ´ particle size after the aging process.
✓ Cooling methods commonly used include oil and water quenching as well as various forms of air or
inert gas cooling.
✓ The essence of quenching is to retain hardening elements (aluminum, titanium, and niobium) in
solution as much as possible to permit the development of an optimal or plus distribution during
one or more precipitation heat treatments.
✓ Internal stresses resulting from quenching can accelerate over-aging in some age-hardenable alloy
iii. Aging (Age Hardening or Precipitation Hardening

✓ Temp: 430oC to 870oC

✓ To obtain maximum strength by precipitation of a dispersed phase in the matrix
✓ Aging treatments strengthen the nickel based superalloys by precipitation of one or more
phases from the supersaturated solid-solution matrix, which is generated by solution
treating and retained because of quenching.
✓ The treatment conditions depend on the type and number of precipitating phases, their size,
the service temperature and on the desired mechanical properties.
✓ The precipitated phases in nickel base superalloys can be the following:
✓ • γ´-phase ( Ni3(Al,Ti) )
✓ • γ'' Ni3Nb
✓ • carbides (M23C6 , M6C )
✓ • Topologically closed packed phases
✓ The aging temperature and time determine the size distribution and forms of the
precipitates.
✓ After the aging treatment the microstructure consists of large grains which contain the main
strengthening phases and a high concentration of carbides at the grain boundaries.
Typical solution treating and aging cycles for wrought heat-resisting Superalloys
Typical solution treating and aging cycles for wrought heat-resisting Superalloys………
Typical solution treating and aging cycles for some cast precipitation-hardened nickel-base superalloys
Typical solution treating and aging cycles for some cast precipitation-hardened nickel-base superalloys…..
Q.9 Applications of Superalloys