Prediction of primary dendritic arm spacing during laser rapid directional solidification of single-crystal nickel-base superalloys

Yao Jian Liang, An Li*, Xu Cheng, Xiao Tong Pang, Hua Ming Wang

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

61 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Primary dendritic arm spacing (PDAS) is an important microstructure feature in the nickel-base single-crystal (SX) superalloys by laser rapid directional solidification (LRDS). A combined numerical model was developed in this paper to investigate the influence of laser processing parameters on the PDAS. This model consists of (1) the theoretical PDAS models which relate PDAS to the solidification conditions and (2) the heat-flux calculations of laser processing which provide the solidification conditions as a function of the processing parameters. It is therefore able to immediately relate the PDAS to the processing parameters and obtain corresponding processing–microstructure maps. To verify the predicted accuracy, the PDAS values calculated by different theoretical models were compared with those produced under different processing conditions. Results show that the PDAS firstly decreases and then increases at a lower laser power whereas it decreases with increasing scanning velocity at a higher laser power, leading to nose-shape contour lines. The predicted accuracy depends on appropriate selections of material thermo-physical properties. These processing–microstructure maps can accurately capture the trends of the PDAS variation with the processing parameters and contribute to the control and optimization of dendritic microstructure while determining relevant processing windows for controlled SX laser processing.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)133-142
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Alloys and Compounds
Volume688
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Laser processing
  • Metals and alloys
  • Microstructure
  • Primary dendritic arm spacing

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