Effect of Hf and Ta on Creep Rupture Characteristics and Properties of Powder Metallurgy Ni-Based Superalloys

doi:10.11900/0412.1961.2023.00071

Acta Metall Sin

2025, Vol. 61

Issue (4): 583-596 DOI: 10.11900/0412.1961.2023.00071

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Effect of Hf and Ta on Creep Rupture Characteristics and Properties of Powder Metallurgy Ni-Based Superalloys

ZHANG Haopeng¹^,², BAI Jiaming¹^,²^,³, LI Xinyu¹^,²^,³, LI Xiaokun¹^,², JIA Jian¹^,², LIU Jiantao¹^,², ZHANG Yiwen¹^,²(

)

1 High Temperature Material Research Institute, Central Iron and Steel Research Institute, Beijing 100081, China
2 Gaona Aero Material Co. Ltd., Beijing 100081, China
3 School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819, China

Cite this article:

ZHANG Haopeng, BAI Jiaming, LI Xinyu, LI Xiaokun, JIA Jian, LIU Jiantao, ZHANG Yiwen. Effect of Hf and Ta on Creep Rupture Characteristics and Properties of Powder Metallurgy Ni-Based Superalloys. Acta Metall Sin, 2025, 61(4): 583-596.

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Abstract

Hf or Ta is widely added to powder metallurgy (PM) Ni-based superalloys to improve their microstructure and mechanical properties. However, research on the mechanism by which Hf and Ta synergistically affect creep performance is lacking. In this study, the effect of Hf and Ta on the creep rupture characteristics and properties of PM Ni-based superalloys at a temperature range of 650-750 ^oC was studied at multiple scales using SEM, EBSD, and TEM. The results showed that Hf and Ta significantly prolonged the creep rupture time, reduced the minimum creep rate, and improved the operating temperature and creep strength. The types of fracture morphologies at various creep temperatures were consistent, the crack source area exhibited intergranular fracture, the crack propagation area exhibited mixed fracture, but the addition of Hf and Ta significantly reduced the fraction of the crack source area. Considering that the stacking fault energy increased with increasing creep temperature, the creep deformation mechanism changed from microtwin shearing at 650 ^oC to microtwin and superlattice stacking fault shearing at 750 ^oC. In addition, Hf and Ta increased the content of MC-type carbides, significantly reducing the density of annealing twin boundaries and effectively inhibiting the nucleation of secondary cracks. Hf and Ta refined the M₂₃C₆ phase on grain boundaries and discontinued its precipitation, thereby strengthening the grain boundary and inhibiting the intergranular fracture. Hf and Ta reduced the stacking fault energy at various creep temperatures and increased the density of deformed microtwins, thereby increasing the resistance to dislocation movement. Moreover, Hf and Ta increased the volume fraction and average size of the secondary γ′ phase and increased the lattice mismatch between the γ and γ′ phases, thereby enhancing the strengthening effect of the γ/γ′ phase interface.

Key words: powder metallurgy Ni-based superalloy Hf Ta creep rupture characteristic creep property

Received: 21 February 2023

ZTFLH:

TF125.5

Fund: National Science and Technology Major Project(2017-VI-0008-0078);Project of Central Iron and Steel Research Institute(SHI20051670J)

Corresponding Authors: ZHANG Yiwen, professor, Tel: (010)62186736, E-mail: yiwen64@cisri.cn

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	ZHANG Haopeng
	BAI Jiaming
	LI Xinyu
	LI Xiaokun
	JIA Jian
	LIU Jiantao
	ZHANG Yiwen

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https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/10.11900/0412.1961.2023.00071 OR https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/Y2025/V61/I4/583

Table 1 Actual compositions of four kinds of experimental powder metallurgy (PM) Ni-based superalloys

Fig.1 Morphology of powders obtained by plasma rotating electrode process (PREP) (Inset shows one typical PREP powder) (a), the size of ingot after hot isostatic pressing (HIP) and heat treatment (HT) (unit: mm) (b), and the size of creep specimen (unit: mm) (c)

Fig.2 Microstructures and element distributions of 0Hf + 0Ta (a1-a3), 0.5Hf + 0Ta (b1-b3), 0Hf + 2.4Ta (c1-c3), and 0.5Hf + 2.4Ta (d1-d3) alloys
(a1-d1) distributions of MC carbides (PPB—prior particle boundary) (a2-d2) morphologies of γ′ phase (a3-d3) element distribution mappings of γ and γ′ phases (HAADF—high angle annular dark field)

Fig.3 Stereoscopic images of the fracture morphologies of the alloys under different creep conditions of 650 ^oC, 970 MPa (a1-a4)，700 ^oC, 770 MPa (b1-b4), and 750 ^oC, 580 MPa (c1-c4), showing the area fraction of crack source area (CSA) (CPA—crack propagation area) (a1-c1) 0Hf + 0Ta (a2-c2) 0.5Hf + 0Ta (a3-c3) 0Hf + 2.4Ta (a4-d4) 0.5Hf + 2.4Ta

Fig.4 Fracture morphologies of the CSA (a1-c1), the boundaries of CSA and CPA (indicated by the dotted yellow line) (a2-c2), and the CPA (a3-c3) of 0Hf + 0Ta alloy

Fig.5 Creep strain curves (a-c) and creep strain rate curves (d-f) of the alloys
(a, d) 650 ^oC, 970 MPa (b, e) 700 ^oC, 770 MPa (c, f) 750 ^oC, 580 MPa

Creep condition	Alloy	t_r / h	$ε ˙$ / s^-1
650 ^oC, 970 MPa	0Hf + 0Ta	64	$6.0 × 10 - 8$
	0.5Hf + 0Ta	108	$1.4 × 10 - 8$
	0Hf + 2.4Ta	305	$4.5 × 10 - 9$
	0.5Hf + 2.4Ta	475	$1.0 × 10 - 9$
700 ^oC, 770 MPa	0Hf + 0Ta	112	$5.5 × 10 - 9$
	0.5Hf + 0Ta	169	$3.4 × 10 - 9$
	0Hf + 2.4Ta	454	$1.9 × 10 - 9$
	0.5Hf + 2.4Ta	543	$1.7 × 10 - 9$
750 ^oC, 580 MPa	0Hf + 0Ta	140	$3.4 × 10 - 8$
	0.5Hf + 0Ta	184	$1.0 × 10 - 8$
	0Hf + 2.4Ta	355	$6.9 × 10 - 9$
	0.5Hf + 2.4Ta	370	$3.5 × 10 - 9$

Table 2 Creep rupture time (t_r) and minimum creep rates (

ε ˙

) of the alloys under various creep conditions

Fig.6 Larson-Miller curves of alloys with varying Hf and Ta contents (Larson-Miller parameter LMP = $(T + 273.15) × (l g t r + 20)$ , T is the temperature)

Fig.7 Bright-field (BF) TEM images, selected area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns, and dark-field (DF) TEM images of microstructures of the alloys after creep rupture at 650 ^oC, 970 MPa (D-MT—deformation microtwin)
(a) 0Hf + 0Ta (b) 0.5Hf + 0Ta (c) 0Hf + 2.4Ta (d) 0.5Hf + 2.4Ta

Fig.8 TEM images of microstructures of 0Hf + 0Ta and 0.5Hf + 2.4Ta alloys after creep rupture at 750 ^oC, 580 MPa (The yellow arrows indicate D-MTs and the green arrows indicate superlattice stacking faults (SSFs))
(a) TEM image of 0Hf + 0Ta alloy
(b) TEM image of 0.5Hf + 2.4Ta alloy
(c) high-resolution TEM image of deformation microtwins (Inset shows the corresponding fast Fourier transform (FFT))
(d) TEM image of SSFs

Fig.9 Effects of Hf and Ta addition on the density of annealing twin boundaries (A-TB) of HT alloys (θ—misorientation)
(a) 0Hf + 0Ta (b) 0.5Hf + 0Ta (c) 0Hf + 2.4Ta (d) 0.5Hf + 2.4Ta

Fig.10 Secondary cracks of 0Hf + 0Ta alloy after 650 ^oC, 970 MPa (a), 700 ^oC, 770 MPa (b), and 750 ^oC, 580 MPa (c) creep ruptures; and BF TEM image of an annealing twin (A-T) after 650 ^oC, 970 MPa creep rupture (d) (Inset in Fig.10d shows the corresponding DF TEM image; the blue arrows indicate A-TB, and the red circles indicate the sources of secondary cracks)

Fig.11 M₂₃C₆ phase on grain boundaries after 750 ^oC, 580 MPa creep rupture (Yellow lines indicate M₂₃C₆ phase)
(a) 0Hf + 0Ta alloy
(b) 0.5Hf + 2.4Ta alloy
(c) BF TEM image of M₂₃C₆ phase in 0.5Hf + 2.4Ta alloy
(d) DF TEM image, SAED pattern, and EDS corresponding to Fig.11c

Table 3 Stacking fault energy of the alloys at different temperatures (JMatPro calculated value)

Table 4 Volume fraction (f), average diameter (d), and average spacing (λ) of secondary γ′ phase; and lattice mismatch of γ and γ′ phase (δ)in HT alloys^[16]

Table 5 Calculated values of minimum creep rate of the alloys under various creep conditions

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