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Thermal effects on microstructural heterogeneity of Inconel 718 materials fabricated by electron beam melting

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Abstract

Additive manufacturing technologies, also known as 3D printing, have demonstrated the potential to fabricate complex geometrical components, but the resulting microstructures and mechanical properties of these materials are not well understood due to unique and complex thermal cycles observed during processing. The electron beam melting (EBM) process is unique because the powder bed temperature can be elevated and maintained at temperatures over 1000 °C for the duration of the process. This results in three specific stages of microstructural phase evolution: (a) rapid cool down from the melting temperature to the process temperature, (b) extended hold at the process temperature, and (c) slow cool down to the room temperature. In this work, the mechanisms for reported microstructural differences in EBM are rationalized for Inconel 718 based on measured thermal cycles, preliminary thermal modeling, and computational thermodynamics models. The relationship between processing parameters, solidification microstructure, interdendritic segregation, and phase precipitation (δ, γ′, and γ″) are discussed.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

At ORNL, Donald L. Erdman, Frank Medina, Tracie M. Lowe, Tom Geer, and Tyson L. Jordan assisted with the experimental work. Research sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Advanced Manufacturing Office, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with UT-Battelle, LLC. This research was also supported by fellowship funding received from the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Energy University Programs. Additional support provided by the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Advanced Manufacturing Office (Combined Heat and Power) and by the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS), which is sponsored by the Scientific User Facilities Division, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy. Research is also sponsored by Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Programs at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Notice: This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nuclear Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA

    William J. Sames

  2. Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37830, USA

    Kinga A. Unocic & Ryan R. Dehoff

  3. Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Knoxville, TN, 37932, USA

    Ryan R. Dehoff & Sudarsanam S. Babu

  4. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA

    Tapasvi Lolla

  5. Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA

    Sudarsanam S. Babu

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  1. William J. Sames
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Correspondence to William J. Sames.

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Sames, W.J., Unocic, K.A., Dehoff, R.R. et al. Thermal effects on microstructural heterogeneity of Inconel 718 materials fabricated by electron beam melting. Journal of Materials Research 29, 1920–1930 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2014.140

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