Influence of Cr Content on Cellular Precipitation Behaviour of Ni-38Cr-3.8Al Alloy with Lamellar Structure

Abstract

Ni-Cr binary alloys containing high amount of Cr demonstrate gamma/alpha-Cr lamellar structure by discontinuous precipitation (DP) reaction from grain boundary. The mechanism of DP reaction is caused by supersaturated Cr in the gamma phase. Supersaturated Cr concentration influences the driving force for the DP reaction and the lamellar spacing. Moreover, the Ni-based alloys with high Cr, containing Al, significantly increase the hardness and strength due to the very narrow lamellar structure. Al addition brings on Ni consumption in the matrix by precipitation of the gamma prime phase. Therefore, Cr supersaturates dramatically in the matrix. The wrought Ni-Cr-Al alloy, Ni-38Cr-3.8Al (mass%) , reaches extremely high tensile strength, which is over 2 GPa, after annealing treatment. Even though chemical composition of Ni-38Cr-3.8Al is simple, the microstructure is complex because it consists of the gamma/alpha Cr lamellar structure with the fine gamma prime particles. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the influence of Cr concentration on the cellular precipitation behaviour. In order to understand the influence of Cr concentration, Ni-34, 36 and 38Cr-3.8Al alloys were prepared. Forged bars were subjected to solution treatment in the gamma single phase region. Subsequently, the alloys were aged from 873K to 1073 K for various times. The cellular precipitation reaction is suppressed by a decrease in Cr concentration, particularly at low temperature annealing treatment condition. The hardness is low in lower Cr concentration alloys in all range of annealing treatment temperature. These results indicate that Cr concentration remarkably affects the driving force for the DP reaction.