Avoiding cracks in additively manufactured non-weldable directionally solidified Ni-based superalloys

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Additive manufacturing of directionally solidified Ni-based superalloys faces at least two critical obstacles, namely, the formation of stray equiaxed grains and the susceptibility to cracking; circumventing both of these simultaneously is considered difficult. In this study, a comparative study of a non-weldable superalloy IN738 fabricated through the laser directed energy deposition (DED) without preheating the base plate and the electron beam powder bed fusion (EB-PBF) with preheating up to the upper bound of ductility dip temperature range was performed. With appropriate process parameters, a steep and unidirectional temperature gradient, a sufficiently high cooling rate at the liquid/solid interface, and a relatively low cooling rate at the γ′ solvus are obtained simultaneously in the EB-PBF process. The prevalence of these conditions results in the growth of well-aligned columnar dendrites, mitigates the elemental segregation, reduces the built-in microscopic defects, and lowers the stored deformation energy. Consequently, cracking is successfully prevented and reasonable room temperature tensile properties are achieved in the as-printed EB-PBF product. Moreover, recrystallization is not triggered during the post-printing heat treatment, and thus the <001> fiber texture is preserved. This study provides a detailed understanding of the critical factors that need to overcome for producing directionally solidified superalloys through additive manufacturing. • Non-weldable IN738 superalloys was successfully fabricated by EB-PBF with preheating up to the upper bound of DTR. • A steep and unidirectional temperature gradient permits the directional growth of columnar dendrite. • High cooling rates during solidification suppress element segregation and low cooling rates at γ′ solvus help avoid cracks. • The as-printed EB-PBF product with a low stored deformation energy exhibits an excellent resistance to recrystallization.