No abstract

A microstructural analysis has been carried out on the commercially solution treated and aged (STA) Incoloy 909 superalloy to evaluate the phases present using optical, SEM, TEM and differential scanning calorimetry. Comparison is made where possible with non-standard STA analyses reported in the literature. In the STA condition, the main phase present besides the γ matrix was a deliberately produced Laves phase to control grain growth. Increasing the solution temperature above that recommended for the alloy resulted in eventual solution of the Laves phase and concomitant grain growth. In the STA condition, in addition to the Laves phase, a copious precipitation of a γ′ phase (Ni3TiNb) was observed. In addition, a limited observation was made of the early stages of the transition of some of the γ′ phase to the ϵ phase for the over aged condition. There was no ϵ phase observed in the STA condition. A final observation was the presence of ‘black grain’ previously reported in the literature, in both the ST and STA conditions in the authors’ research. The present view is that the phenomenon is an etching artefact and not a genuine microstructural feature.

The microstructure of alloy 909, a low coefficient of thermal expansion Fe-Co-Ni superalloy was examined in the solution treated and over aged condition, following a previous communication by the authors on the solution treated and commercially aged alloys. In the commercially aged alloy, only the Laves and the γ‚ phases were observed. With some indication, however, of alignment of the γ‚ phase along crystallograpic directions in the austenitic matrix. This alignment of the γ‚ phase has been previously reported as a precursor to the growth of the ϵ phase from the γ‚ phase. Analysis by TEM showed that the platelet phase was hexagonal (NiFeCo)2(TiNb) with some variations in the stoichiometry about 2:1 ratio. Tensile and hardness testing indicated that the presence of the platelet shaped ϵ phase in the solution treated and overaged condition was not as effective in the strengthening of the alloys as the spherical γ‚ in the commercially aged and solution treated condition. In addition to the presence of ϵ phase, blocky A2B Laves phase was abundant, which prevents excessive grain growth up to ∼1040°C