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Inconel 718 alloy fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM) (or laser powder-bed fusion (LPBF)) has been post-process heat-treated by stress-relief anneal at 1065 °C; stress-relief anneal (1065 °C) + solution treatment (at 720 °C) + aging (at 620 °C); hot isostatic pressing (HIP) (at 1120–1200 °C); stress-relief anneal + HIP; and stress-relief anneal + HIP + solution treatment + aging. Microstructure analysis utilizing optical metallography revealed primarily equiaxed grain structures (having average diameters ranging from ~30 to 49 microns) containing annealing twins, and a high concentration of carbide precipitates in all HIP-related treatments in the grain boundaries and intragrain regions. However, no precipitates nucleated on the {111} coherent annealing twin boundaries because of their very low interfacial free energy in contrast to regular grain boundaries. The mechanical properties for the as-fabricated Inconel 718 exhibited a yield stress of 0.64 GPa, UTS of 0.98 GPa, and elongation of 26%. Following stress-relief anneal at 1065 °C, the yield stress dropped to 0.60 GPa, while the elongation increased to 43%. The associated grain structure was an irregular, somewhat elongated, recrystallized structure. This structure was preserved at a stress anneal at 1065 °C + solution treatment + aging, but grain boundary and intragrain precipitation resulted in a doubling of the yield stress to 1.3 GPa and a reduced elongation of 12.6%. The results of HIP-related post-process heat treatments involving temperatures above 1060 °C demonstrated that the yield stress and elongations could be varied from 1.07 to 1.17 GPa and 11.4% to 19%, respectively. Corresponding Rockwell C-scale hardness values also varied from 33 for the as-fabricated Inconel 718 to 53 for simple post-process HIP treatment at 1163 °C.

It has recently been shown that small additions of SiC to alumina can significantly improve both the surface finish for a given grinding treatment, and the resistance to severe wear. This paper describes experiments designed to obtain a clearer understanding of the mechanisms involved by correlating quantitative measurements of surface fracture during a standard abrasive wear test with the wear rate for a range of microstructures. The surface fracture parameters measured were (i) the proportion of the surface in which pieces of material had been removed by brittle fracture, and (ii) the size (equivalent circular diameter and depth) of the individual pullouts. Microstructures with systematic variations in grain size, SiC volume fraction, SiC particle size, SiC position (inter- or intra-granular) and sintering aids were tested. The results indicate that the reduction in wear rate on adding SiC or reducing the grain size is caused by a reduction in the area fraction of surface pullout by brittle fracture. For low SiC contents (~2vol%), this reduction in surface pullout is a consequence of the reduction in size of the individual pullouts. For higher SiC contents (10vol%), there is evidence that the nucleation of surface cracking is also inhibited. The underlying micromechanisms responsible for these effects are discussed.

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