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Acta Metall Sin  2025, Vol. 61 Issue (4): 561-571    DOI: 10.11900/0412.1961.2023.00406
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Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Monel K-500 Alloy in Synergetic Modulation of Directional Solidification and Thermal Processing
YANG Minghui, LI Xingwu, SUN Chonghao, RUAN Ying()
School of Physical Science and Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
Cite this article: 

YANG Minghui, LI Xingwu, SUN Chonghao, RUAN Ying. Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Monel K-500 Alloy in Synergetic Modulation of Directional Solidification and Thermal Processing. Acta Metall Sin, 2025, 61(4): 561-571.

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Abstract  

Monel K-500 alloy is a Ni-based alloy that is widely used in marine environments and chemical industries because of its exceptional corrosion resistance and mechanical properties. The synergetic modulation of directional solidification and thermal processing (DS-TP) technique combines DS and in situ heat treatment in a single experiment, thus eliminating the influence of environmental changes and avoiding aging effect. To investigate the effect of the DS-TP technique on the mechanical properties of the alloy, samples were prepared using DS alone and the DS-TP technique at different growth rates. Subsequently, the microstructures and mechanical properties of the samples were analyzed. In the DS experiments, an Al2O3 ceramic crucible (diameter: 10 mm) containing the alloy sample was heated using a graphite heater and an electromagnetic induction coil. As the sample was superheated to 200 K, it was immersed in the Ga-In-Sn liquid at a certain pulling rate. In the DS-TP experiments, the directionally solidified sample was in situ annealed at 1223 K for 1 h and then immersed into the liquid. Subsequently, the sample was subjected to an aging process at 923 K for 5 h. The microstructure of the directionally solidified Monel K-500 alloy showed columnar γ grains with pronounced <001> texture. When the growth rate decreased, the temperature gradient at the solid-liquid interface during directional solidification increased. Lower growth rates led to a coarser microstructure, lesser microsegregation of Cu, and fewer transverse grain boundaries. As the growth rate decreased from 100 μm/s to 5 μm/s, the yield strength, tensile strength, and elongation increased from 248 MPa, 421 MPa, and 63.4% to 288 MPa, 487 MPa, and 69.9%, respectively. Unlike the case of the directionally solidified alloys, the nanoscale γʹ hardening phase precipitated in the DS-TP-treated alloys and the degree of microsegregation decreased. Further, the yield strength and tensile strength increased from 368 and 640 MPa, respectively, to 386 and 686 MPa, respectively, as the growth rate decreased from 100 μm/s to 5 μm/s. The distribution of intergranular cracks in the fractography was similar to that of large-angle grain boundaries in the region closing the fracture. With the growth rate decreasing, intragranular cracks gradually appeared, and the number of intergranular cracks decreased. Moreover, grain deviation from the preferred growth orientation increased the dislocation density and decreased the elongation. Grain refinement promoted the homogeneous distribution of dislocations and caused a slight increase in the elongation. At a growth rate of 5 μm/s, the tensile strength and yield strength of the DS-TP-treated alloy increased by 34% and 41%, respectively.

Key words:  Monel K-500 alloy      directional solidification      thermal processing      growth rate      microstructure      mechanical property     
Received:  07 October 2023     
ZTFLH:  TG113.25  
Fund: National Natural Science Foundation of China(52073232, 52225406, 52088101);Science Fund for Scientific and Technological Innovation Team of Shaanxi Province(2021TD-14)
Corresponding Authors:  RUAN Ying, professor, Tel: (029)88431669, E-mail: ruany@nwpu.edu.cn

URL: 

https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/10.11900/0412.1961.2023.00406     OR     https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/Y2025/V61/I4/561

Fig.1  Experimental schematics of directional solidification (DS) (a) and synergetic modulation of directional solidification and thermal processing (DS-TP) (b) of Monel K-500 alloys (T—temperature of sample, t—time of experiment, TL—melting tempereture, TP1—holding temperature; insets are the schematics of the movement of samples during DS and DS-TP, respectively)
Fig.2  Schematics of sampling positions for EBSD analyses (a) and specimen dimensions of Monel K-500 alloy (b) (Red surfaces are the regions of EBSD observation)
Fig.3  Microstructures (a-c) and locally high magnified images (d-f) of directionally solidified Monel K-500 alloy at growth rates (V) of 5 μm/s (a, d), 50 μm/s (b, e), and 100 μm/s (c, f), and primary dendrite trunk spacing (λ1) and secondary dendrite arm spacing (λ2) (g) (Q—quenching region, D—directional solidified region)
Fig.4  Crystal orientation distributions of γ phase in Monel K-500 alloys processed by DS (a-c) and DS-TP (d-f) at growth rates of 5 μm/s (a, d), 50 μm/s (b, e), and 100 μm/s (c, f) (SD—solidification direction, ND—normal direction, TD—transverse direction; red cubes are the unit cells of corresponding grain)
Fig.5  Element distributions of dendrite interface in Monel K-500 alloy processed by DS (a-c) and DS-TP (d-f) at growth rates of 5 μm/s (a, d), 50 μm/s (b, e), and 100 μm/s (c, f)
Fig.6  TEM analyses of Monel K-500 alloys processed by DS (a-c) and DS-TP (d-f) at growth rate of 5 μm/s (Insets in Fig.6e show the fast Fourier transform (FFT) patterns) (a, d) bright field (BF) and dark field (DF) images (b, e) high-resolution TEM (HRTEM) images (c, f) selected area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns
Fig.7  Tensile performances of Monel K-500 alloys processed by DS and DS-TP
(a) stress-strain curves (b) yield strength (σs) (c) ultimate tensile strength (σb) (d) elongation (δ)
Fig.8  Grain orientation distributions (a1-c1), and low (a2-c2) and high (a3-c3) magnified SEM images of Monel K-500 alloys processed by DS-TP at growth rates of 5 μm/s (a1-a3), 50 μm/s (b1-b3), and 100 μm/s (c1-c3)
Fig.9  Kernel average misorientation (KAM) distributions and pole figure (insets) in regions I (a1-c1), II (a2-c2), and III (a3-c3) in Fig.2a of the tensile specimen of Monel K-500 alloys processed by DS-TP at growth rates of 5 μm/s (a1-a3), 50 μm/s (b1-b3), and 100 μm/s (c1-c3) (The dotted circles in Figs.9b1-b3 show the projection of grain A on the pole figure)
Fig.10  Grain orientation distributions of longitudinal fracture section (Arrows show the grain boundaries formed during plastic deformation) (a1-c1) and misorientation distributions (a2-c2) of Monel K-500 alloys processed by synergetic modulation at growth rates of 5 μm/s (a1, a2), 50 μm/s (b1, b2), and 100 μm/s (c1, c2) (Insets show the misorientation distributions of Monel K-500 alloys before fracture)
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