Microstructure Evolution during Isothermal Aging for Wrought Nickel-Based Superalloy Udimet 520

Abstract

This paper investigates the evolution of microstructure during isothermal aging at 1173 K in the wrought nickel-based superalloy Udimet 520, after being solution-treated at 1393 K for 4 h, followed by various cooling rates. Age-hardening behavior was observed during isothermal aging for water-quenched (WQ) and air-cooled (AC) specimens after the solution treatment, whereas it could not be detected for a furnace-cooled (FC) specimen. No primary γ′ particles were observed in any continuously cooled samples. For the WQ and AC specimens, the size of the secondary γ′ precipitates increased during the isothermal aging along the Ostwald ripening and their morphology evolved from spherical to an intermediate shape between spherical and cuboidal. Conversely, the secondary γ′ particles exhibited an octodendritic shape for the FC specimen, and the octodendritic character of the secondary γ′ particles was emphasized during isothermal aging, resulting in the splitting of the secondary γ′ particles. It was found that the splitting of γ′ particles occurred during the isothermal aging for Alloy 80A with a lower volume fraction of γ′ phase around 20%.

 

This Paper was Originally Published in Japanese in J. Japan Inst. Met. Mater. 84 (2020) 11–18.

Fig. 8 FE-SEM images of Udimet 520 solution-treated at 1393 K/4 h/FC followed by the aging treatment at 1173 K/1 h (a), 10 h (b), 100 h (c), and 1000 h (d).