Influence of thermal exposure on microstructure and stress rupture properties of a new Re-containing single crystal Ni-based superalloy

Abstract

In this study, the long-term thermal microstructural stability and related stress rupture lives of a new Re-containing Ni-based single-crystal superalloy, DD11, were investigated after high-temperature exposure for different lengths of time. The results show that the γ′ precipitates retained a cuboidal morphology and the γ′ size increased after short thermal exposure for 50 h at 1,070 °C. As the thermal exposure time was prolonged to 500 h, the cuboidal γ′ gradually changed into irregular raft-like morphology due to particles coalescence, and the morphology of the microstructure was almost unchanged after further thermal exposure up to 3,000 h. The stress rupture experiments at 1,070 °C and a tensile stress of 140 MPa showed that the rupture lives increased significantly after thermal exposure for 50 h and dropped dramatically with increasing exposure time up to 500 h but decreased slowly after exposure for more than 500 h. These results imply that stress rupture properties did not decrease when the γ′ remained cuboidal but degraded to different extents during the γ′ coarsening process. The coarsening of the γ′ precipitates and change in morphology were regarded as the main factors leading to the degradation of the stress rupture lives. This study provides fundamental information on the high-temperature long-term microstructural stability and mechanical performance, which will be of great help for DD11 alloy optimization and engineering aeroengine applications.