The Effect of Cooling Rate from Solution Treatment on γ′ Reprecipitates and Creep Behaviors of a Ni-Based Superalloy Single-Crystal Casting

Slowing down the coarsening of the γ′ phase and suppressing the precipitation of the topologically close-packed (TCP) phase is crucial for optimizing the creep properties of Ni-based single crystal superalloys, which are affected by the solution treatment history. In the present study, the effect of cooling rate on the morphology, size and lattice misfit of γ′ reprecipitates after solution treatment, as well as the microstructural evolution (e.g., the coarsening of γ′ reprecipitate and precipitation of the TCP phase) and creep properties of samples under different cooling rates at 1100 °C were investigated. The findings suggested that as the cooling rate increasing, the size of γ′ reprecipitates decreased, while the morphology transformed from polygonal to cubic. Additionally, faster cooling rate, on the one hand, the lower the degree of lattice misfit of γ/γ′ phases, which is beneficial to slow down the coarsening of the γ′ phase; on the other hand, the supersaturation of the γ-phase was reduced, i.e., the Mo and Re contents in the γ matrix were lower compared to the slow-cooling sample, which led to a lower TCP phase area fraction during thermal exposure at 1100 °C. It is crucial that the creep life of the alloy significantly improved by increasing the cooling rate after solution treatment; this is facilitated by the formation of rafts from finer cubic γ′ phase and reduction in the TCP phase as a source of microcracks. In conclusion, the findings of this study provide new insights into suppressing the precipitation of the TCP phase and optimizing alloy heat treatment processes to improve creep properties.