Effect of External Field Treatment on the Microstructure and Deformation Behavior of Nickel-Base Superalloy

The electrostatic field and electropulsing were applied to the nickel-base superalloy and the effect and mechanism of the external field on the microstructure were investigated in the present study. The results showed that the electrostatic field has significant effect on the vacancy movement and atomic diffusion. As a consequence, a lot of twins can be obtained in the alloy by electrostatic field treatment and both the precipitation and growth of the strengthening phase changed. The plastic deformation resistance of the nickel-based superalloy can be effectively reduced by the adding of pulse current as well as the improvement of the plastic deformation ability. At the same time, the activation energy of the recrystallization can also be reduced by the adding of the pulse current, and the promotion of the nucleation and growth of the recrystallization of the alloy.