Characterization of strain-induced precipitation in Inconel 718 superalloy

© 2016 ASM International Inconel 718 presents excellent mechanical properties at high temperatures, as well as good corrosion resistance and weldability. These properties, oriented to satisfy the design requirements of gas turbine components, depend on microstructural features such as grain size and precipitation. In this work, precipitation-temperature-time diagrams have been derived based on a stress relaxation technique and the characterization of precipitates by scanning electron microscopy. By using this methodology, the effect of strain accumulation during processing on the precipitation kinetics can be determined. The results show that the characteristics of precipitation are significantly modified when plastic deformation is applied, and the kinetics are slightly affected by the amount of total plastic deformation.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Dynamic recrystallization mechanisms and twining evolution during hot deformation of Inconel 718

The hot deformation behavior of an IN718 superalloy was studied by isothermal compression tests under the deformation temperature range of 950–1100 °C and strain rate range of 0.001–1 s-1 up to true strains of 0.05, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.7. Electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) technique was employed to investigate systematically the effects of strain, strain rate and deformation temperature on the subgrain structures, local and cumulative misorientations and twinning phenomena. The results showed that the occurrence of dynamic recrystallization (DRX) is promoted by increasing strain and deformation temperature and decreasing strain rate. The microstructural changes showed that discontinuous dynamic recrystallization (DDRX), characterized by grain boundary bulging, is the dominant nucleation mechanism in the early stages of deformation in which DRX nucleation occurs by twining behind the bulged areas. Twin boundaries of nuclei lost their ¿3 character with further deformation. However, many simple and multiple twins can be also regenerated during the growth of grains. The results showed that continuous dynamic recrystallization (CDRX) is promoted at higher strains and large strain rates, and lower temperatures, indicating that under certain conditions both DDRX and CDRX can occur simultaneously during the hot deformation of IN718.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Enhancement of pitting corrosion resistance for Al1050 processed by continuous closed die forging

The pitting corrosion of an aluminum alloy AA1050 after being processed by continuous closed die forging (CCDF) was evaluated by cyclic potentiodynamic polarization (CPP). Microstructure evolution, mechanical and corrosion behaviors were studied as a function of the total strain imposed. The CCDF process was carried out at 0, 16 and 24 passes with loading times of 10 and 15¿s. The electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analysis revealed a grain refinement of 0.78¿µm after 24 passes, which promoted an increment in the yield strength (YS), ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and vickers hardness (HV) by a factor of 9, 3 and 2 respectively; but the uniform strain and strain to rupture decreased by 93% and 72% respectively. Resistance to corrosion after 16 and 24 passes was compared with the reference material (0 passes), using CPP in a Na2S04 0.1¿mol/l +100¿mg/l of NaCl electrolyte. Results showed that the specimens with 24 passes decreased its corrosion rate one order of magnitude. In addition, specimens with very fine grain sizes have shown nobler pitting potential and lower pitting volume fraction than coarse grain specimens.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Twin-induced plasticity of an ECAP-processed TWIP steel

The TWIP steels show high strain hardening rates with high ductility which results in high ultimate tensile strength. This makes their processing by equal channel angular pressing very difficult. Up to now, this has only been achieved at warm temperatures (above 200 °C). In this paper, a FeMnCAl TWIP steel has been processed at room temperature and the resulted microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated. For comparison, the material has also been processed at 300 °C. The TWIP steel processed at room temperature shows a large increase in yield strength (from 590 in the annealed condition to 1295 MPa) and the ultimate tensile strength (1440 MPa) as a consequence of a sharp decrease in grain size and the presence within the grains of a high density of mechanical twins and subgrains. This dense microstructure results also in a loss of strain hardening and a reduction in ductility. The material processed at 300 °C is more able to accommodate deformation and has lower reduction in grain size although there is a significant presence of mechanical twins and subgrains produced by dislocation activity. This material reaches an ultimate tensile strength of 1400 MPa with better ductility than the room temperature material.Postprint (published version

Stress-strain response and microstructural evolution of a FeMnCAl TWIP steel during tension-compression tests

© 2016. The stress-strain response of a Fe-17.5Mn-0.7C-2Al TWIP steel during cyclic loading has been investigated by means of tension-compression tests within the strain limits of ±2%, ±5% and ±10%. In addition, the microstructural evolution during the ±5% cyclic test has also been studied. The difference between the forward and reverse stress for each pre-strain has been analyzed at 0.2% offset strain and at the strains in which forward and reverse curves were parallel in order to study the Bauschinger effect (BE) and permanent softening, respectively. The evolution of the BE with pre-strain for this steel is similar to other FeMnC TWIP steels, that is, increasing values of BE are obtained as the pre-strain increases. However, its absolute values are half those reported in the literature on other FeMnC steels. This diminution of the BE is related to the lower activity of mechanical twinning in FeMnCAl TWIP steels at the pre-strains herein investigated, which promotes less polarized stresses in the matrix due to the lower dislocation storage capacity.Regarding permanent softening, the evolution is similar to that of the BE and the same analysis can be applied. During reverse compression, a slight increase of twin thickness and twin spacing with respect to the first tensile stage took place. This fact might be linked to the lower flow stress observed in the permanent softening period during reverse straining.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Nucleation and growth of precipitates in a V-microalloyed steel according to physical theory and experimental results

Using a theoretical model, the nucleus number and nucleation time were determined for a V-microalloyed steel. The calculated data has made it possible to plot the nucleus number vs. temperature, nucleation critical time vs. temperature, and precipitate critical radius vs. temperature. The nucleus number was calculated by integration of the nucleation rate expression. On the other hand, an experimental study was performed and the nucleation time vs. temperature was plotted (PTT diagram), thus allowing a comparison between the theoretical values and experimental results. It has been found that the growth of precipitates during precipitation obeys a quadratic growth equation and not a cubic coalescence equation. The experimentally determined growth rate coincides with the theoretically predicted growth rate. The experimental nucleation time is longer than the calculated time due to conceptual differences.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Novel method of severe plastic deformation - Continuous closed die forging: CP aluminum case study

There is a large number of methods for severe plastic deformation (SPD). Multidirectional forging (MDF) is probably one of the most easily scalable for industrial application. In general, two main conditions need to be fulfilled for successful SPD processing: constan t sample geometry and application of a quasi - hydrostatic pressure. The first condition is necessary for strain accumulation by repetitive deformation and the second one helps preventing cracking in the specimens with high accumulated strain. However, MDF i s not providing quasi - hydrostatic condition in the processed sample. This paper reports a novel method for severe plastic deformation, namely continuous close d die forging (CCDF), which fulfils both requirements for the successful deformation of samples to a very high accumulated strain. Commercially pure aluminum (1050) was processed to a total strain of 24 by CCDF. After processing, the microstructure was refined down to a mean grain size of 0. 78 µm . Tensile testing showed good mechanical properties: yiel d strength and ultimate tensile strength of the ultrafine - grained (UFG) aluminum were 180 and 226 MPa, respectively. Elongation to rupture was about 18%. The microstructure, microhardness and grain boundary statistics are discussed with regard to the high mechanical properties of the UFG aluminum processed by th is novel method.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Equal channel angular pressing of a TWIP steel: microstructure and mechanical response

A Fe–20.1Mn–1.23Si–1.72Al–0.5C TWIP steel with ultrafine grain structure was successfully processed through equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) at warm temperature up to four passes following the BC route. The microstructure evolution was characterized by electron backscattered diffraction to obtain the grain maps, which revealed an obvious reduction in grain size, as well as a decrease in the twin fraction, with increasing number of ECAP passes. The texture evolution during ECAP was analyzed by orientation distribution function. The results show that the annealed material presents brass (B) as dominant component. After ECAP, the one pass sample presents A1* and A2* as the strongest components, while the two passes and four passes samples change gradually toward B/B¯B/B¯ components. TEM analysis shows that all samples present twins. The twin thickness is reduced with increasing the number of ECAP passes. Nano-twins, as a result of secondary twinning, are also observed in the one and two passes samples. In the four passes sample, the microstructure is extensively refined by the joint action of ultrafine subgrains, grains and twins. The mechanical behavior was studied by tensile samples, and it was found that the yield strength and the ultimate tensile strength are significantly enhanced at increasing number of ECAP passes. Although the ductility and strain hardening capability are reduced with ECAP process, the present TWIP steel shows significant uniform deformation periods with positive work hardening rates.Postprint (author's final draft

Microstructural evolution and constitutive equations of Inconel 718 alloy under quasi-static and quasi-dynamic conditions

The deformation behavior of IN718 superalloy was investigated using the hot compression tests in the temperature range of 950-1100 °C, and strain rates covering the quasi-static to the quasi-dynamic regions (0.001-10 s-1). The shape of flow curves as well as the corresponding work hardening rates analysis was utilized to reveal the dynamic recrystallization (DRX) phenomena. DRX was the dominant restoration mechanism in the whole temperature and strain rate domains, which was characterized by the optical and EBSD images. Extended flow softening was observed at high strain rates due to the adiabatic heating and dislocations interaction. In addition to the assessment the capability of Sellars equations, a new constitutive equation based on the multiple variable regression analysis was proposed for modeling the peak stress as a function of strain rate and temperature. Besides the simple form of the proposed model, it has a good accuracy for predicting the peak stress.The deformation behavior of IN718 superalloy was investigated using the hot compression tests in the temperature range of 950-1100 °C, and strain rates covering the quasi-static to the quasi-dynamic regions (0.001-10 s-1). The shape of flow curves as well as the corresponding work hardening rates analysis was utilized to reveal the dynamic recrystallization (DRX) phenomena. DRX was the dominant restoration mechanism in the whole temperature and strain rate domains, which was characterized by the optical and EBSD images. Extended flow softening was observed at high strain rates due to the adiabatic heating and dislocations interaction. In addition to the assessment the capability of Sellars equations, a new constitutive equation based on the multiple variable regression analysis was proposed for modeling the peak stress as a function of strain rate and temperature. Besides the simple form of the proposed model, it has a good accuracy for predicting the peak stress.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version