Effects of Post-Heat Treatment and Carbide Precipitates on Strength-Ductility Balance of GH3536 Superalloy Prepared by Selective Laser Melting

doi:10.1007/s40195-024-01748-3

Abstract

Abstract:

The strength and ductility cannot achieve a good tradeoff for some superalloy (e.g. GH3536) prepared by selective laser melting (SLM), which seriously restricts their industrial applications. This work examined the effect of post-heat treatment (HT) on the microstructure and mechanical properties of GH3536 produced by SLM. In particular, the influence of carbide precipitate morphology and distribution on strength and ductility of the alloy after heat treatment was discussed. After aging at 650 °C (denoted as HT1), the Cr₂₃C₆ carbides were distributed in chains. The ductility increased by approximately 31%, while the strength slightly decreased. After aging at 745 °C (denoted as HT2), the Cr₂₃C₆ carbides were distributed in chains. However, the HT2 samples showed an increase in ductility of ~ 58% and no reduction in strength. As the dislocation density of HT2 sample was higher than that of the HT1 sample, the chain carbides could be pinned to the grain boundaries, consequently improving the ductility but no loss in strength as compared with the as-deposited samples. When the aging temperature was increased to 900 °C (denoted as HT3), the carbides were distributed in a discontinuous granular form. As a result, the HT3 samples presented the lowest dislocation density which reduced the strength.

Key words: Selective laser melting, GH3536, Heat treatment, Carbides, Strength-ductility

Le Xia, Haijun Su, Quandong Hu, Yinuo Guo, Peixin Yang, Hongliang Gao, Minghui Yu, Min Guo, Zhuo Zhang, Lin Liu, Hengzhi Fu. Effects of Post-Heat Treatment and Carbide Precipitates on Strength-Ductility Balance of GH3536 Superalloy Prepared by Selective Laser Melting[J]. Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters), 2024, 37(10): 1667-1679.

Figures/Tables 14

Table 1 Chemical composition in GH3536 used in the present study (wt%)

Ni	Cr	Fe	Mo	Co	W	C	Al	Ti	B	Si	O
Bal.	22.60	19.10	9.66	1.98	0.60	0.10	0.26	0.059	0.0098	0.13	0.025

Fig. 1 a Parts of the SLM equipment; b build strategy of samples; c SEM image showing the morphology of GH3536 powders; d corresponding size distribution of the powders

Table 2 Heat treatment system used in this study to prepare GH3536 by SLM

Sample	Condition
AB	As-built
HT1	1177 °C/1 h, AC + 650 °C/6 h, AC
HT2	1177 °C/1 h, AC + 745 °C/6 h, AC
HT3	1177 °C/1 h, AC + 900 °C/6 h, AC

Fig. 2 Variation of relative density at different LEDs of SLM-ed GH3536

Fig. 3 Variation of relative density and micro-cracks at different VEDs of SLM-ed GH3536

Fig. 4 Microstructure of a as-deposited, b HT1, c HT2 and d HT3 samples. Top images are cross section, middle images are longitudinal section and the bottom ones are partial magnification of the longitudinal section

Fig. 5 SEM images of samples at different heat treatment: a HT1, b HT2 and c HT3; EDS maps of HT-ed samples: a1, a2 HT1; b1, b2 HT2; c1, c2 HT3

Fig. 6 a XRD patterns of the as-deposited and HT-ed samples prepared by SLM; a1 partial XRD patterns in 2θ range from 58 to 61

Fig. 7 EBSD analysis showing the grain orientation, grain morphology, and recrystallization of the as-deposited and HT-ed samples prepared by SLM. a-d IPF images and e-h recrystallization images and i-l grain boundaries maps of the as-deposited, HT1, HT2 and HT3 samples, respectively. Blue area: sample recrystallization; yellow area: sample substructure; red area: sample deformation

Fig. 8 KAM of GH3536 prepared by SLM: a as-deposited, b HT1, c HT2 and d HT3 samples

Fig. 9 Local orientation difference distribution map of GH3536 prepared by SLM: a as-deposited, b HT1, c HT2 and d HT3 samples

Fig. 10 Room temperature mechanical properties of GH3536 prepared by SLM: a engineering stress-strain curves of samples, b the elongation of the as-deposited GH3536 under different heat treatments

Fig. 11 SEM images of fracture surfaces for GH3536 by SLM: a as-deposited sample, b HT1 sample, c HT2 sample and d HT3 sample. The locally magnified image of AB, HT1, HT2, HT3 samples are a1, b1, c1, d1, respectively

Fig. 12 a Tensile properties of HT-ed GH3536 in comparison with the previously reported GH3536 fabricated using SLM followed by other heat treatment processes produced by SLM; b a complex turbofan of GH3536 manufactured via SLM

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