Solidification Structure of Superalloy René 80 and Variation of Tensile Properties after Heat-Treatment

Abstract

Microstructural characteristics of directionally solidified Rene 80 superalloy are investigated with optical microscope and scanning electron microscope; solidification velocity is found to change from 25 to 200 μm/s under the condition of constant thermal gradient (G) and constant alloy composition (Co). Based on differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurement, γ phase (1,322 oC), MC carbide (1,278 oC), γ/γ' eutectic phase (1,202 oC), and γ' precipitate (1,136 oC) are formed sequentially during cooling process. The size of the MC carbide and γ/γ' eutectic phases gradually decrease with increasing solidification velocity, whereas the area fractions of MC carbide and γ/γ' eutectic phase are nearly constant as a function of solidification velocity. It is estimated that the area fractions of MC carbide and γ/γ' eutectic phase are determined not by the solidification velocity but by the alloy composition. Microstructural characteristics of Rene 80 superalloy after solid solution heat-treatment and primary aging heat-treatment are such that the size and the area fraction of γ' precipitate are nearly constant with solidification velocity and the area fraction of γ/γ' eutectic phase decreases from 1.7 % to 0.955 %, which is also constant regardless of the solidification velocity. However, the size of carbide solely decreases with increasing solidification velocity, which influences the tensile properties at room temperature.