Elucidation and Verification of Cracking Behavior in Additive Manufacturing of Alloy 718 Based on Fractography

Abstract

This study identified a cracking that occurred continuously in the built direction of an additive manufactured part of alloy 718 by the laser metal deposition method and clarified the cracking behavior. The solidification microstructure of alloy 718 was evaluated by EDS, EPMA, and extraction residue, and it was found that Laves phase, Ti carbides, and Al oxides were formed between the dendrite microstructures. A fracture surface analysis of the cracks revealed that the cracking in the additive manufacturing was hot cracking associated with the liquid film and that the cracking occurred along the grain boundaries. The fracture surface at the beginning of the cracking showed a solidification cracking fracture surface. The experimental investigation for crack propagation during additive manufacturing and the analytical evaluation of the mechanical state around the cracking using thermal elastic-plastic analysis elucidated the cracking behavior during additive manufacturing. If the cracking exists at the fusion boundary, it is suggested that the cracking initiates from the solid-liquid interface towards the solidification direction. Moreover, tensile strain occurred around the cracks during additive manufacturing, particularly the strain was biggest at the crack edge on the fusion boundary. Therefore, the continuous cracking that occurred beyond each layer in the additive manufacturing of alloy 718 in this study can be considered solidification cracking, and its behavior can be further explained as a notch extension cracking that starts from the solidification cracking and continuously occurs in the solid-liquid coexistence temperature region.