Directional Solidification Of Superalloy Research Articles

Understanding the metal-mold interfacial reactions during directional solidification of superalloys using Al2O3-rich ceramic mold

This study investigates the reactions occurring at the metal-mold interface during directional solidification of Ni-based superalloys, exerting a significant influence on both the surface quality and the desired composition of the alloy. The origin and nature of these reactions are systematically investigated by integrating thermodynamics and microstructural evolution of the alloy. It was observed that Hf from the melt reacts with the Al2O3-based ceramic mold, leading to the formation of HfO2 at the interface. This compound adheres to the surface of the ingot and also infiltrates into the melt near the interface. In order to validate these findings, an exploration of four alternative Ni-based superalloys, both with and without Hf content, was conducted, revealing an absence of comparable reactions at the interface in Hf-free alloys. Additionally, it was explored that the interface formed due to the metal-mold reaction may serve as a preferential nucleation site for MC-type carbides in C-containing Ni-based superalloys. This study concludes that the Hf content is the primary determinant influencing reactions at the metal-mold interface.

Numerical study on the formation of spurious grains and freckles during the directional solidification of superalloys

Freckles, a significant issue encountered during the directional solidification of superalloys, are recognised by a trail of equiaxed grains parallel to the direction of gravity accompanied by local eutectic enrichment. In the current study, a mixed-columnar-equiaxed multiphase volume-average solidification model was employed to study the formation of freckles in superalloy casting. Fragments produced via flow-driven and capillary-driven fragmentation mechanisms are considered as the source of spurious grains. The transport and the growth/remelting of the fragments are considered. According to the simulation results, some segregation channels develop at the corners of the casting. Flow-driven fragments are produced in/around the segregation channels, whereas capillary-driven fragments are produced at a certain depth of the mushy zone across the entire section of the casting. The fragmentation rate caused by the flow-driven mechanism is several orders of magnitude larger than that caused by the capillary-driven mechanism, i.e. the flow-driven fragmentation mechanism is dominant for the currently investigated sample. After the solidification process, four freckles formed at the casting corners on the shadowed side, whereas it was freckle-free on the bright side.

Study on the solutal convection during dendrite growth of superalloy under directional solidification condition

The solutal convection is able to affect the dendrite growth and solute distribution during directional solidification. The solutal convection is raised by the solute difference-caused buoyancy. When solutal convection becomes intensive, solute plumes will occur, which may cause freckle defects in directional solidification of superalloys. The onset of solutal plumes depends on the solidification condition. In this study, the dendrite growth with solutal convection during directional solidification of nickel-based superalloy was investigated by two-dimensional phase-field simulations. The lattice Boltzmann method was used to solve the flow field driven by solute difference caused-buoyancy force. The pseudo-binary alloy approximation was adopted for simplification of the multicomponent alloy. The effects of the temperature gradient, pulling velocity, and isotherm inclination angle on dendrite growth and solutal convection were investigated. The dendrite growth dynamics and solutal convection pattern under different solidification conditions were analyzed. Dendrite growth velocity oscillation was observed. The effect of pulling velocity on dendrite growth velocity oscillation was analyzed.

The Suppression of the Natural Convection in the Directional Solidification Processing of Superalloy by the Introduction of the Traveling Magnetic Field: 2D and 3D Simulation

AbstractIn this work, 2D and 3D, time-dependent flow simulations with relevance to the melt motion during directional solidification of superalloy under a traveling magnetic field (TMF) are presented. Numerical results indicate that the velocity at the front of solidification interface increases rapidly in the area-changeable transition region under the no TMF. However, the downward TMF is able to either stabilize or destabilize the flow in this transition region, which is determined by the effects of the strength of the magnetic field. Under the weak downward TMF, the natural convection is suppressed and the interface always maintains flat in the process of directional solidification, providing favorable conditions for the growth of crystal. Flow is deeply destabilizing with the increase of magnetic field intensity. Finally, in terms of thermal field, flow field and interface shape, their 2D and 3D simulation results are also compared respectively.

Effect of a Transverse Magnetic Field on Stray Grain Formation of Ni-Based Single Crystal Superalloy During Directional Solidification

The effect of a transverse magnetic field on stray grain formation during directional solidification of superalloy was investigated. Experimental results indicated that the transverse magnetic field effectively suppressed the stray grain formation on the side the primary dendrite diverges from the mold wall. Moreover, the quenched experimental results indicated that the solid/liquid interface shape was obviously changed in a transverse magnetic field. The effect of a transverse magnetic field on stray grain formation was discussed.

Experimental Evidence of the Effect of a High Magnetic Field on the Stray Grains Formation in Cross-Section Change Region for Ni-Based Superalloy During Directional Solidification

The effect of a high magnetic field on the stray grains in cross-section change region was investigated experimentally during directional solidification of superalloy. The microstructures showed that the high magnetic field significantly suppressed the stray grains formation in cross-section change region. Meanwhile, the temperature curves indicated that the nucleation undercooling was significantly increased in a high magnetic field. The effect of a high magnetic field on the stray grains was discussed based on the nucleation mechanism.

The effect of liquid metal cooling on thermal gradients in directional solidification of superalloys: Thermal analysis

Numerical methods were used to examine the influence of casting and baffle geometry, mold thickness as well as withdrawal speed on solidification conditions and resulting microstructure. Achievable thermal gradients, stability limits and primary dendrite arm spacings for Liquid Metal Cooling (LMC) and High Rate Solidification (HRS) process are reported. Calculations were compared with experimental results from the literature and good agreement was found. A thermal gradient almost 1.8 times higher was observed for the use of LMC in the case of simple cylindrical castings. In contrast, a thermal gradient up to three times higher was calculated with LMC compared to HRS for large section size castings. The numerical investigations indicate that the nature of the baffle has a stronger effect than the different mechanism of heat dissipation when HRS and LMC are compared.

Effect of grain boundary characteristics on hot tearing in directional solidification of superalloys

The effect of grain boundary (GB) misorientation on hot tearing susceptibility of directionally solidified (DS) nickel-based superalloys was explored. We found that the castability of second generation nickel-based superalloy CMSX-4 is inferior to DS superalloy IN792, an alloy well known for bad castability. The castability of CMSX-4 is somewhat improved at a higher solidification rate. The hot tearing tendency increases with increasing GB misorientation angle. As feeding tendency becomes greater with increasing misorientation, this points to the importance of GB cohesion for solidification cracking in the alloy. Microstructure investigation reveals that hot tearing is associated with formation of continuous gamma and gamma prime eutectic films at the GB in CMSX-4. We assume that the gamma and gamma prime eutectic, which reflects the remaining liquid at the end of solidification, prevents the impinging dendrite arms from touching and in this way decreases cohesion.

Intermetallids Ni3Al and Fe3Al with directional structure as future materials

Presents data which relate to the problem of creating a new technique and technology. In the 1990s the problem of the practical use of intermetallids Ni3Al and Fe3Al as structural components in aircraft industry in the USSR was at the stage of a pilot application. In the USSR the process of the directional solidification of superalloys used in components of aircraft engines was at a high level. There was a commercial process for obtaining turbine blades with columnar structure (DC) and single crystal structure (SC) using different methods of cooling for the ingots during the growth, such as cooling on the copper shield and in melt metals (Sn,Al). On the basis of obtained data, theoretical research was conducted regarding the creation of new processes which could give rise to the possibility of directional solidification. One of these processes is the method of dosed feeding of the growing ingots. This method allows alterations to the microstructure, the plasticity, the strength of Ni3Al and Fe3Al intermetallids, and corrosion and oxidation resistance.

Development of a freckle predictor via rayleigh number method for single-crystal nickel-base superalloy castings

A Rayleigh number based criterion is developed for predicting the formation of freckles in Ni-base superalloy castings. This criterion relies on finding the maximum local Rayleigh number in the mush, where the ratio of the driving buoyancy force to the retarding frictional force is the largest. A critical Rayleigh number for freckle formation of approximately 0.25 is found from available experimental data on directional solidification of a Ni-base superalloy. If the Rayleigh number in a superalloy casting is below this critical value, freckles are not expected to form. Full numerical simulations of freckling in directional solidification of superalloys are conducted for a large variety of casting conditions, alloy compositions, and inclinations of the system with respect to gravity. For the vertical cases, the Rayleigh numbers at the starting points of the predicted freckles are in good agreement with the critical value established from the experiments. The simulations confirm that the same critical Rayleigh number applies to different superalloys. The simulations for inclined domains show that even a small amount of inclination (less than 10 deg) significantly lowers the critical Rayleigh number and moves the freckles to the side wall of the casting, where the mushy zone has advanced the most relative to gravity. In application of the Rayleigh number criterion to complex-shaped superalloy castings, the absence of freckles near upper and lower boundaries and in sections of insufficient cross-sectional area or height needs to be taken into account as well. The criterion can be used to study the tradeoffs between different superalloy compositions, applied temperature gradients, and casting speeds. Additional experiments, in particular for other superalloys and for a range of inclinations, are desirable to confirm the critical Rayleigh numbers found in the present study.