The effect of Mo addition on microstructural characteristics of a nickel-base single crystal superalloy containing 4 wt% Re was investigated. The γ/γ’ partitioning ratios determined by energy dispersive spectrometer attached to a transmission electron microscope showed that the addition of Mo enhanced the partitioning of Re,W and Cr in the g matrix while decreased the concentration of Ta in the matrix. Synchrotron radiation diffraction was adopted to measure the γ/γ’ lattice misfit at room temperature. The results indicated that Mo addition changed the γ/γ’ lattice misfit towards larger negative as well as increased the tetragonal distortion of the γ lattice. Additionally,Mo addition led to microstructural instability and altered the precipitation behavior of topologically close-packed phases during 1100 C exposure. Instead of precipitating directly from the matrix,the μ phase was observed to be converted from the α phase which precipitated preferentially as a metastable intermediate in the alloy with high Mo content.
Evolution of the morphology of MC carbides with the change of cooling rate and carbon content in two kinds of nickel-base superalloys, K417 G and DD33, has been investigated. The morphology of MC carbides evolves from faceted to script-like with increasing cooling rate. Varying the carbon content from 40X10-6 to 320X10-6, the morphology of carbides changes from blocky, rod-like into script-like. Scanning electron microscopy observation of deep-etched samples indicates that these carbides evolve from octahedral to dendritic and then into welldeveloped dendrites accordingly in a three-dimensional manner. The morphology evolution is discussed from the viewpoint of the preferential growth orientation of fcc crystals and the carbide growth rate during directional solidification.
