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Acta Metall Sin  2026, Vol. 62 Issue (3): 445-457    DOI: 10.11900/0412.1961.2024.00106
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Tensile Behavior and Fracture Mechanism of Hard-to-Deform GH4151 Superalloy
CUI Tianliang1,2, XIE Xingfei1,2,3(), WEN Xiaocan1,2,3, LYU Shaomin1,2,3, QU Jinglong1,2,3(), DU Jinhui1,2,3
1.High-Temperature Materials Institute, Central Iron and Steel Research Institute, Beijing 100081, China
2.Beijing Gaona Materials & Technology Co. Ltd., Beijing 100081, China
3.Sichuan Gaona Forging Co. Ltd., Deyang 618000, China
Cite this article: 

CUI Tianliang, XIE Xingfei, WEN Xiaocan, LYU Shaomin, QU Jinglong, DU Jinhui. Tensile Behavior and Fracture Mechanism of Hard-to-Deform GH4151 Superalloy. Acta Metall Sin, 2026, 62(3): 445-457.

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Abstract  

GH4151 is a heavy alloy, hard-to-deform Ni-based superalloy with service temperatures reaching up to 750-800 oC. It is an important candidate material for high-temperature alloys used in the turbine disks of the new-generation advanced aeroengines. During service, the rapid superposition of temperature and stress makes turbine disks susceptible to damage. This study explores the use of hard-to-deform GH4151 alloy used for turbine disks. The tensile behavior of the GH4151 alloy within a temperature range of 23-950 oC was investigated using advanced techniques such as SEM, TEM, EDS, and EPMA. The microstructural changes, deformation microstructure, and their impact on the fracture mechanism were analyzed, and the fracture failure mechanisms of the alloy at various temperatures were elucidated. The results indicate that yield strength and tensile strength initially decrease gradually, followed by a rapid decline with increase in experimental temperature. Meanwhile, elongation after fracture of the alloy decreased initially and increased with increasing experimental temperature. The fracture mode transitioned from a mixed fracture to an intergranular fracture. Further research showed that during tensile testing at temperatures of 23-550 oC, deformation primarily occurred in the γ channels, with a significant accumulation of dislocations at the γ/γ′ interfaces. This led to the tearing of the γ/γ′ interfaces and the formation of microvoids, which in turn generated a transgranular fracture. The intergranular fracture within the mixed-fracture mode is attributed to the stress concentration at MC carbide interfaces, resulting in the formation of voids. During tensile testing at temperatures of 650-800 oC, cracks were initiated via an intergranular fracture, and propagated through mixed-fracture modes. Deformation occurred simultaneously in the γ channels and the γ′ phase. Dislocation pile-up at the grain boundaries accelerated the enrichment of O atoms toward the elastic stress fields or the enrichment of defects at the grain boundaries under high-temperature and high-stress conditions. Such enrichment led to dynamic embrittlement of the grain boundaries, causing intergranular fracture, which reduced the elongation after fracture. As the strain increased, crack propagation was accelerated, reducing the time available for the O atoms to dynamically embrittle the grain boundaries. When the accumulation of dislocations at the γ/γ′ interfaces reached a critical value, crack propagation shifted to a mixed-fracture mode dominated by transgranular fracture. During tensile testing at 950 oC, cracks were initiated and propagated via intergranular fracture. The morphology of the γ′ phase changed to an approximately spherical shape, reducing the hindrance to dislocation motion. This reduction did not lead to the coalescence of microvoids at the γ/γ′ interfaces, and thus, no transgranular fracture occurred in the samples tested at 950 oC. Because of the decrease in tensile strength at 950 oC, the external stress applied was reduced, and crack propagation slowed down, elongation was increased.

Key words:  Ni-based superalloy      tensile property      fracture mechanism      deformation mechanism      microstructure     
Received:  08 April 2024     
ZTFLH:  TG146.1+5  
Fund: National Science and Technology Major Project(J2019-VI-0006-0120);National Natural Science Foundation of China(52274330);National Natural Science Foundation of China(52074092)
Corresponding Authors:  QU Jinglong, senior engineer, Tel: 13810256459, E-mail: qujinglong@cisri.cn;
XIE Xingfei, senior engineer, Tel: 18801928583, E-mail: xiexingfei@cisri.com.cn

URL: 

https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/10.11900/0412.1961.2024.00106     OR     https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/Y2026/V62/I3/445

Fig.1  Schematics of sampling position (a), tensile sample size (unit: mm) (b), and material characterization positions (c) and OM image of the initial microstructure (d) of GH4151 alloy
Fig.2  Engineering stress-strain curves (a) and tensile properties (b) of GH4151 alloy after tensile testing at various temperatures
Fig.3  Cross-sectional OM (a, d) and SEM (b, c, e, f) images of fracture morphologies of GH4151 alloy after tensile testing at 23 oC (a-c) and 550 oC (d-f)
Fig.4  Cross-sectional OM (a-d) and SEM (e-g) images of fracture morphologies of GH4151 alloy after tensile testing at 650 oC (a), 700 oC (b), 750 oC (c), and 800 oC (d-g) (The regions enclosed by the black dotted lines in Figs.4a-d represent the crack initiation areas, with the exterior demarcated as the crack propagation areas) (e) crack initiation zone (f, g) crack propagation zones
PointCAlTiCrCoNiNbMoW
18.790.4511.714.675.7819.1941.144.264.01
28.051.089.136.359.8620.2736.833.584.85
Table 1  EDS analysis results of chemical compositions of points 1 and 2 in Figs.3f and 4f
Fig.5  Cross-sectional OM (a) and low (b) and high (c) magnified SEM images of fracture morphologies of GH4151 alloy after tensile testing at 950 oC
Fig.6  SEM images of secondary γ' phases at fractures of GH4151 alloys after tensile testing at 23 oC (a), 550 oC (b), 650 oC (c), 750 oC (d), 800 oC (e), and 950 oC (f)
Tensile temperatureoCMedian circularityAverage circularity
230.7930.782
5500.7870.785
6500.8060.796
7500.7890.786
8000.8110.808
9500.8520.849
Table 2  Circularities of secondary γ' phases in GH4151 alloys after tensile testing at various temperatures
Fig.7  Bright field (BF) (a, c, d, g-i) and dark field (DF) (b, e) TEM images, and SAED pattern (f) of GH4151 alloy after tensile fracture at various temperatures (MT—microtwinning) (a-c) 23 oC (d-f) 750 oC (g-i) 950 oC
Fig.8  Surface SEM images of GH4151 alloy fracture morphologies after tensile testing at 550 oC
(a) cleavage fracture (b) ductile tearing
Fig.9  Schematics of fracture processes of GH4151 alloys during tensile testing at 23-550 oC (σ—tensile stress)
Fig.10  Longitudinal SEM image and EDS elemental mappings (a) and TEM images (b, c) of the fracture morphology of GH4151 alloy after tensile testing at 550 oC
Fig.11  Inverse pole figure (IPF) (a), kernel average misorientation (KAM) map (b), and geometrically necessary dislocation (GND) density map (c) of GH4151 alloy after tensile fracture at 800 oC (Black arrows represent primary γ′ phases, the same in Figs.12 and 15)
Fig.12  SEM image (a) and EPMA elemental mappings (b-i) of crack tip in GH4151 alloy after tensile testing at 800 oC (Lv. represents degree of element concentration)
(b) Al (c) Nb (d) Ti (e) O (f) Ni (g) Mo (h) Co (i) Cr
Fig.13  Tensile stress-strain curves of GH4151 alloy after tensile fracture at 800 oC in vacuum and atmospheric atmospheres (Inset in Fig.13a is photo of samples after tensile testing) (a) and SEM images of fracture of GH4151 alloy at 800 oC in vacuum (b, c)
Fig.14  Schematics of fracture processes of GH4151 alloy during tensile testing at 650-800 oC
Fig.15  IPF (a), KAM map (b), and GND density map (c) of GH4151 alloy after tensile fracture at 950 oC
Fig.16  Schematics of the fracture processes of GH4151 alloy during tensile testing at 950 oC
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