The Effect of the Cooling Rates on the Microstructure and High-Temperature Mechanical Properties of a Nickel-Based Single Crystal Superalloy

Abstract

The as-cast alloy of nickel-based single-crystal superalloy was used as the research object. After four hours of solution treatment at 1315 °C, four cooling rates (water cooling (WC), air cooling (AC) and furnace cooling (FC1/FC2)) were used to reduce the alloy to room temperature. Four different microstructures of nickel-based superalloy material were prepared. A high-temperature tensile test at 980 °C was carried out to study the influence of various rates on the formation of the material’s microstructure and to further obtain the influence of different microstructures on the high-temperature mechanical properties of the materials. The results show that an increase of cooling rate resulted in a larger γ′ phase nucleation rate, formation of a smaller γ′ phase and a greater number. When air cooling was used, the uniformity of the γ′ phase and the coherence relationship between the γ′ phase and the γ phase were the best. At the same time, the test alloy had the best high-temperature tensile properties, and the material showed a certain degree of plasticity. TEM test results showed that the test alloy mainly blocked dislocations from traveling in the material through the strengthening effect of γ′, and that AC had the strongest hindering effect on γ′ dislocation movement.