The effect of heat treatments on the creep–rupture properties of a wrought Ni–Cr heat-resistant alloy at 973 K

Abstract

The effect of heat treatments on the creep–rupture properties was investigated on a wrought Ni–Cr heat-resistant alloy at 973 K. Short-time aging (aging for 3.6 ks (1 h) at 973 K) was made on the solution-treated specimens with different grain sizes. The fine-grained specimen (the grain diameter, d = 45.2 μm) produced by short-time solution treatment exhibited almost the same rupture life and superior creep ductility as those of the medium-grained specimen (d = 108 μm) produced by normal solution treatment. The fine-grained specimen and medium-grained specimen showed the longer rupture life compared with the specimen with recommended aging. The principal strengthening of specimens was attributed to the precipitation hardening by γ′ phase particles. The fine-grained specimen had the highest hardness, and the increase of the hardness was observed in both the fine-grained and the medium-grained specimens during creep at 973 K. However, coarse-grained specimen (d = 286 μm) with high-temperature long-time solution treatment exhibited significantly short rupture life owing to insufficient precipitation hardening after the short-time aging and during creep. Ductile intergranular fracture with dimples occurred in the fine-grained specimen, while brittle intergranular fracture was observed in the medium-grained specimen and in the specimen with recommended aging. Both transgranular fracture and brittle intergranular fracture were observed in the coarse-grained specimen. A simple heat treatment composed of short-time solution treatment and short-time aging is applicable to high-temperature components of wrought Ni–Cr alloys.