Alloy 718 is a Ni-Fe-based superalloy, which has been successfully adapted to powder bed fusion (PBF) additive manufacturing because of the alloys adaptability with such emerging technology in achieving enhanced mechanical properties. Despite a promising perspective for PBF-built Alloy 718 in different industries, a few factors, including microstructural non-uniformities, volumetric defects, undesired non-metallic inclusions, anisotropic behavior, residual stress, as well as surface and sub-surface irregularities, lead to premature fatigue life of the parts. However, the PBF technology has been quickly growing, and associate progress has resulted in substantial advances in quality, hence increased fatigue life of the parts. Therefore, a critical assessment of the efficacy of the PBF-built Alloy 718 parts can be highly enlightening. A fundamental understanding of the relationship between feedstock material, manufacturing process, process parameters, microstructure, properties, and fatigue life of PBF-built Alloy 718 is crucial for improving the characteristics of the current materials, designing new alloy systems, and enhancing the capability of the PBF techniques. The present paper aims to comprehensively review the fundamentals and recent advances in the PBF-built Alloy 718 parts with improved fatigue life, the influence of thermal and mechanical post-treatment, mechanisms of fatigue crack initiation and growth, thermo-mechanical fatigue, dwell-time fatigue, as well as fracture behavior in different loading conditions and environments considering anisotropic characteristics of the material. An unbiased review of the literature provides an understanding of the advanced and outstanding achievements in the field that assure further research. An evaluation of the status of the field, the gaps in the theoretical understanding, and the fundamental needs for the sustainable development of PBFbuilt Alloy 718 with enhanced fatigue life in specific applications are also provided.

High layer thicknesses for laser powder bed fusion are promising for productivity increase. However, these are associated with increased process instability, spatter generation and powder degradation, crucial for alloys sensitive to oxygen. The effect of increasing layer thickness from 30 to 60 mu m is studied focusing on Ti-6Al-4V spatter formation during LPBF and its characterisation, with scanning and transmission electron microscopy, combustion analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Results indicate that spatters are covered with a uniform Ti-Al-based oxide layer and Al-rich oxide particulates, the thickness of which is about twice that present on virgin powder. The oxygen content was about 60% higher in spatters compared to the virgin powder. The study highlights that increasing the layer thickness to 60 mu m permits to reduce the total generation of spatters by similar to 40%, while maintaining similar spatter characteristics and static tensile properties. Hence, this allows to increase build rate without compromising process robustness.

The importance of both recycling and additive manufacturing (AM) is increasing; however, there has been a limited focus on the development of AM alloys that are compatible in terms of recyclability with the larger scrap loops of wrought 5xxx, 6xxx and cast 3xx aluminium alloys. In this work, the powder bed fusion (PBF) printability of AlMgSi alloys in the interval of 0-30 wt% Mg and 0-4 wt% Si is screened experimentally with a high-throughput method. This method produces PBF-mimicked material by PVD co-sputtering, followed by laser remelting. Strong evidence was found for AlMgSi alloys being printable within two different composition ranges: Si + Mg < 0.7 wt% or for Si + 2/3 Mg > 4 wt% when Mg < 3 wt% and Si > 3 wt%. Increasing the amount of Mg and Si influences the grain structure by introducing fine columnar grains at the melt pool boundary, although the melt pool interior was unaffected. Hardness in an as-built state increased with both Mg and Si, although Si had a neglectable effect at low levels of Mg. Both the evaporative loss of Mg and the amount of Mg in solid solution increased linearly with the amount of Mg.

The use of aluminiferous coatings profoundly improves the service life of superalloys but leads to microstructural degradation of superalloys and thus loss of mechanical properties. In this study, we mod- ified MCrAlY coatings by adding Ta to reduce the interdiffusion effect on substrate alloys. This strategy was verified by 2000 h/1100 °C oxidation tests in two Ta-containing MCrAlY-IN792 systems. The system with 3.3 wt% Ta MCrAlY exhibits an outstanding resistance to c0 depletion in the substrate and compa- rable oxidation property in comparison with a reference system of Ta-free MCrAlY-IN792. Increasing Ta to 7.4 wt% results in reduced oxidation resistance. Thermodynamic simulations revealed the phase- transformation mechanism induced by initial interdiffusion, uncovering the cause of c0 depletion in the substrate and the mechanism behind improving resistance to c0 depletion by Ta addition.

Anisotropic ductility in additively manufactured (AM) alloys, namely better ductility along the building direction (BD) has been extensively studied and traditionally attributed to the crystallographic texture. However, recent studies have shown significant ductility anisotropy in weakly or non-textured AM alloys, indicating that other factors may also play critical roles. To explore this, AM Inconel 718 with weak crystallographic texture was selected as the model material, and the in-situ high-energy X-ray diffraction tests together with multiscale microstructural characterization techniques were performed to explore the deformation micromechanisms. The results of this study, for the first time, revealed that the better ductility in the vertical specimen (loading parallel to BD) was partially due to the negative stress triaxiality factor (TF) of the {220} grains during plastic deformation, which results in the shrinkage or even healing of the microvoids. Furthermore, the & delta;-phase alignment in conjunction with grain boundary orientation were also proved to have a pronounced impact on the anisotropic ductility of AM alloys. On the other hand, though in the overall weak-textured microstructure, the proportion of 101 grains were marginally over other grains. Thus, the positive effect of {220} grains on ductility was stronger than the negative effect of {200} and {311} grains, contributing to the excellent failure elongation exceeding 12% for both samples. The findings of this study shed new light on the mechanisms underlying the anisotropic ductility of AM alloys and provide insight into strategies for enhancing their performance.

The Ottosen-Stenstrom-Ristinmaa (OSR) incremental fatigue damage model is adapted for fatigue-life as-sessment of integral airframes milled from 7050-T7451 aluminum plates. For validation, variable-amplitude high-cycle fatigue experiments are conducted for circumferentially notched, axisymmetric specimens, and for a geometry similar to an aircraft fuselage frame, with flanges, stiffeners, and web panels. We also describe how the parameters of the OSR model can be modified to account for surface roughness, and for setting acceptable failure probability.

Dislocation plays a crucial role in controlling the strength and plasticity of bulk materials. However, determining the densities of geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs) and statistically stored dislocations (SSDs) is one of the classical problems in material research for several decades. Here, we proposed a new approach based on indentation size effect (ISE) and strengthening theories. This approach was performed on a laser powder bed fused (L-PBF) Hastelloy X (HX), and the results were verified by the Hough-based EBSD and modified Williamson–Hall (m-WH) methods. Furthermore, to better understand the new approach and essential mechanisms, an in-depth investigation of the microstructure was conducted. The distribution of dislocations shows a clear grain orientation-dependent: low density in large <101> preferentially orientated grains while high density in fine <001> orientated grains. The increment of strengthening in L-PBF HX is attributed to a huge amount of edge-GNDs. Planar slip is the main operative deformation mechanism during indentation tests, and the slip step patterns depend mostly on grain orientations and stacking fault energy. This study provides quantitative results of GND and SSD density for L-PBF HX, which constructs a firm basis for future quantitative work on other metals with different crystal structures.

Process parameters in laser-based powder bed fusion (LBPF) play a vital role in the part quality. In the current study, the influence of different novel scan strategies on residual stress, porosities, microstructure, and crystallographic texture has been investigated for complex L-shape parts made from nickelbased superalloy Inconel 718 (IN718). Four different novel scanning strategies representing total fill, re-melting, and two different sectional scanning strategies, were investigated using neutron diffraction, neutron imaging, and scanning electron microscopy techniques. These results were compared with the corresponding results for an L-shape sample printed with the conventional strategy used for achieving high density and more uniform crystallographic texture. Among these investigated novel strategies, the re-melting strategy yielded approximately a 25% reduction in surface residual stress in comparison to the reference sample. The other two sectional scanning strategies revealed porosities at the interfaces of the sections and due to these lower levels of residual stress were also observed. Also, variation in crystallographic texture was observed with different scan strategies.

To improve the understanding of high temperature mechanical behaviours of LPBF Ni-based superalloys, this work investigates the influence of an elongated grain structure and characteristic crystallographic texture on the anisotropic tensile behaviours in LPBF Hastelloy X (HX) at 700 °C. Two types of loading conditions have been examined to analyse the anisotropy related to the building direction (BD), including the vertical loading (loading direction//BD) and the horizontal loading (loading direction ⊥ BD). To probe the short-term creep behaviours, slow strain rate tensile testing (SSRT) has been applied to address the strain rate dependent inelastic strain accumulation. In-situ time-of-flight neutron diffraction upon loading was performed to track the anisotropic lattice strain evolution in the elastic region and the texture evolution in the plastic region. Combined with the post microstructure and fracture analysis, the anisotropic mechanical behaviours are well correlated with the different microstructural responses between vertical and horizontal loading and the different strain rates. A better creep performance is expected in the vertical direction with the consideration of the better ductility and the higher level of texture evolution.

In laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF), most powders are not melted in the chamber and collected after the printing process. Powder reuse is appreciable without sacrificing the mechanical properties of target components. To understand the influences of powder reuse on mechanical performance, a nickel-based superalloy, IN738LC, was investigated. Powder morphology, microstructure and chemical compositions of virgin and reused powders were characterized. An increase in oxygen content, generally metallic oxides, was located on the surface of powders. Monotonic tensile and cyclic fatigue were tested. Negligible deterioration in strength and tensile ductility were found, while scattered fatigue performance with regard to fatigue life was shown. Deformation and fatigue crack propagation mechanisms were discussed for describing the powder degradation effects.

The fatigue properties and microstructural evolution of 316 L stainless steel (316LSS) manufactured by laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) were systematically studied and compared with its wrought counterpart. The as-built L-PBF 316LSS shows a pronounced heterogeneity, not only structurally but also chemically, with a unique microstructure of highly serrated grain boundaries, bimodal grain structure, nano-precipitates, solidification cell structures, and chemical segregations. The microindentation test showed that the hardness of the as-built L-PBF 316LSS reached 2.589 GPa, which was about 1.6 times higher than that of the wrought solution annealed counterpart, and the sparser slip steps around indentations revealed its greater dislocation storage capability. The S-N curves indicated that the fatigue resistance of the as-built L-PBF 316LSS was significantly better than that of the wrought solution annealed samples, and this was ascribed to its unique microstructural characteristics, especially the pre-existing high-density dislocations and chemical microsegregation within cellular solidification features. Furthermore, the enhanced planar slip in L-PBF 316LSS by its unique microstructure, especially the formation of deformation twins, delays the strain localization and restrains slip band generation, thereby significantly inhibiting crack initiation, and contributing greatly to the fatigue performance. The unique cell structure appears to be more effective in improving the low-cycle fatigue performance of L-PBF 316LSS due to the enhanced ductility.

To attain the desired mechanical properties of an additively manufactured component, robust post-processing in term of thermal treatment is highly required to reduce the crystallographic anisotropy. However, the microstructure appearance with respect to the post-treatment temperature is not well understood mechanistically. In this study, the microstructural evolution of grains of a laser-powder bed fused (L-PBF) nickel-base superalloy, CM247LC, during post-processing heat treatment is investigated systematically. Recrystallization barely happens below the gamma solvus temperature leading to a remaining unhomogenized dendritic(cellular) structure. However, recrystallization is introduced above the gamma solvus temperature. By considering the grain boundary (GB) migration mechanisms and supported by experimental observations, the sluggish recrystallization behavior of this gamma-strengthened nickel-based superalloy has been understood. Owing to lack of the difference in stored energy between adjacent grains, this primary driving force is constrained. The GB migration is majorly driven by capillarity force (1-10 MPa) before the recrystallization occurrence, which is evident by the evolution of GB curvatures. On the other hand, the Zener pinning force generated from GB precipitates including carbides and gamma precipitates provides the dragging force in the comparable scale (1-10 MPa) against the GB migration.

Critical aerospace parts require damage tolerance analysis to determine the inspection intervals in-service. Such analyses, based on linear fracture mechanics, require that the fatigue crack growth (FCG) rate relation to the stress intensity factor range is applicable independent of geometry and stress. FCG rates for laser powder bed fusion Ti6Al4V material for conventional compact tension (CT) specimens have therefore been compared to FCG rates for specimens with a crack configuration more technically relevant from an industrial and engineering perspective. The FCG rates corresponded very well and data obtained with CT-specimens can therefore be considered relevant for general damage tolerance predictions.

This work investigates two austenitic stainless steels, Sanicro 25 which is a candidate for high temperature heavy section components of future power plants and Esshete 1250 which is used as a reference material. The alloys were subjected to out-of-phase (OP) thermomechanical fatigue (TMF) testing under strain-control in the temperature range of 100 ∘C to 650 ∘C. Both unaged and aged (650 ∘C, 3000 h) TMF specimens were tested to simulate service degradation resulting from long-term usage. The scanning electron microscopy methods electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) were used to analyse and discuss active failure and deformation mechanisms. The Sanicro 25 results show that the aged specimens suffered increased plastic straining and shorter TMF-life compared to the unaged specimens. The difference in TMF-life of the two test conditions was attributed to an accelerated microstructural evolution that provided decreased the effectiveness for impeding dislocation motion. Ageing did not affect the OP-TMF life of the reference material, Esshete 1250. However, the structural stability and its resistance for cyclic deformation was greatly reduced due to coarsening and cracking of the strengthening niobium carbide precipitates. Sanicro 25 showed the higher structural stability during OP-TMF testing compare with the reference material.

The microstructure and mechanical properties of additively manufactured (AM) parts have been shown to be different from that of cast and wrought counterparts. In this study, electron beam powder bed fusion (EB-PBF) fabricated Alloy 718 was exposed to three different heat treatment routes followed by strain-controlled fatigue testing at 550 degrees C. The fatigue tests were performed with specimens built with their center axis parallel and transverse relative to the build direction. The microstructure showed saturated precipitation of delta-Ni3Nb after repeated solution treatment at 954 degrees C. In contrast, no delta-Ni3Nb precipitates could be observed after a single-step solution treatment at 1025 degrees C. However, the disparity of secondary phases showed no noticeable influence on the fatigue life. A significant difference in fatigue behavior was noted between the parallel and transverse directions. The specimens loaded parallel to the elongated grains showed on average similar to 5x greater life in comparison to the perpendicularly loaded specimens. Compared to corresponding heat-treated material conditions tested at ambient temperature, the specimens showed lower life at high strain amplitude and superior life at low strain amplitude. Moreover, competitive internal and surface failure modes were observed at the lower strain amplitudes while for the higher strain ranges, surface failure modes dominated.

The Ottosen-Stenstrom-Ristinmaa (OSR) incremental fatigue damage model, based on an moving endurance surface centered around a backstress, is adapted for high-cycle fatigue at stress-raisers in AA7050-T7 specimens. Fatigue experiments are carried out for circumferentially-notched, axisymmetric specimens subjected to constant-amplitude (CA) load. The OSR model parameters are fitted to CA fatigue data, showing fair agreement for one set of model parameters across different stress ratios, stress concentration factors, uniaxial stress and biaxial stress. To demonstrate predictive capability, the fatigue life is integrated for an aircraft load spectrum (TWIST), and compared with experimental fatigue life data for holeplate specimens in the literature.

The deformation mechanisms of a single crystal nickel-base superalloy with and without Ru-doped have been investigated under out-of-phase thermomechanical fatigue. The Ru-doped alloy exhibits a thermomechanical fatigue life more than twice as high compared to the Ru-free alloy and a difference in thermomechanical fatigue behavior is also displayed. Microstructure studies by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy revealed that the deformation mechanism of the Ru-free alloy in the initial stage is the movement of dislocations in the γ matrix. In the later stage of the thermomechanical fatigue test, large amounts of twins are formed in the material, and a large number of stacking faults and dislocations are sheared into the γ' precipitates. By comparing with the Ru-free alloy, the Ru-doped alloy has a higher matrix strength due to the solid solution strengthening effect of Ru, and is also prone to different deformation mechanisms. For example, the stacking faults are formed in the initial thermomechanical fatigue cycles and remain in the matrix throughout the entire thermomechanical fatigue process. The formation of twins, on the other hand, is suppressed by Ru addition. Such effects are believed to extend the thermomechanical fatigue life effectively.

Grain refinement plays a central role in powder bed fusion (PBF) additive manufacturing by preventing hot cracking and thus enabling the development of high-strength alloys. However, the mechanism behind grain refinement is not fully understood for conventional casting, nor for PBF. In this work, a high throughput method have been used to produce Al-2 wt%Cu alloys with additions of Ti1-xM(Zr,Ta,V,W)(x)B-2, Al3Ti1-xM(Zr,V)(x) or AlB2 grain refiners for 0.1 &lt; x &lt; 0.9. It was found that grain size varied with x, M and the sum of Ti + M. Ti1-xMxB2 grain refiners offered no advantage over Al3Ti1-xMx. Overall, Ti and Zr provide the best grain refinement, both as Ti1-xMxB2 and Al3Ti1-xMx. However, Ti1-xZrxB2 had a grain refinement minimum around x = 0.65-0.70. The behavior was similar with Ta, but to a lesser extent. V and W had detrimental effects on grain refinement. Despite the fact that no AlB2 particles were observed, additions of B provided excellent grain refinement and was more efficient than Ti below 0.5at%. Ti1-xMxB2 lattice parameters varied with x and followed Vegards law, however, a clear relationship between grain size and epitaxial strain/lattice match could not be established. Similarly, the growth restricting factor alone was not a predictor of grain size.

The additive manufacturability of nickel-based superalloys for laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) technologies is studied by considering the in-process cracking mechanisms. The additive manufacturability of nickel-based superalloys largely depends on the resistance to the liquid and solid-state cracking. Herein, we propose a two-parameter-based, heat resistance and deformation resistance (HR-DR) model, accounting for the relation between chemical composition (both major and minor elements) and cracking susceptibility, which is generalized from the elemental microsegregation behavior and mechanisms of LPBF process induced cracking. The proposed model is validated by the LPBF experiments in this study and by the hitherto reported data in LPBF superalloys community. The HR-DR-model is found to be a theoretically acceptable and easy-to-use approach for the prediction of in-process cracking of nickel-based superalloys during LPBF. The influence of alloying elements and the gamma precipitates on the additive manufacturability is discussed. The model provides a path for designing not only new solid solutioning, but also and more importantly gamma strengthened nickel-based superalloys for LPBF applications. (c) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Acta Materialia Inc.

In fatigue life prediction of single crystal gas turbine blades, the risk of rapid crystallographic crack growth along the close-packed planes poses a large uncertainty. A criterion is proposed to predict the transition from mode I to crystallographic crack growth, which is necessary for reliable prediction of the number of cycles from crack initiation to the onset of crystallographic crack growth. The proposed criterion is calibrated against tests performed under a wide range of conditions representative for a gas turbine blade, including isothermal fatigue crack growth tests and thermomechanical fatigue crack growth tests, some including hold times and pre-test aging.

Shear bands in metallic materials have been reported to be catastrophic because they normally lead to non-uniform plastic deformation. Ductility of laminated metallic composites deteriorates with increasing processing strain, particularly for those having hexagonal-close-packed (hcp) constituents due to inadequate slip systems and consequently prominent shear banding. Here, we propose a design strategy that counterintuitively tolerates the bands with localized strains, i.e. the shear banded laminar (SBL) structure, which promotes 〈c + a〉 dislocation activation in hcp metals and renders unprecedented strengthductility combination in hcp-metal-based composites fabricated by accumulative roll bonding (ARB). The SBL structure is characterized with one soft hcp metal constrained by adjacent hard metal in which dislocations have been accumulated near the bimetal interfaces. High-energy X-ray diffraction astonishingly reveals that more than 90% of dislocations are non-basal in Ti layers of the SBL Ti/Nb composite processed by eight ARB cycles. Moreover, 〈c + a〉 dislocations occupy a high fraction of ∼30%, promoting further 〈c + a〉 cross slip. The unique stress field tailored by both shear banding and heterophase interface-mediated deformation accommodation triggers important 〈c + a〉 slip. This SBL design is of significance for developing hcp-based laminates and other heterostructured materials with high performances.

We have investigated the low cycle fatigue (LCF) properties and the extent of strengthening in a dense additively manufactured stainless steel containing different volume fractions of cell structures but having all other microstructure characteristics the same. The samples were produced by laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF), and the concentration of cell structures was varied systematically by varying the annealing treatments. Load-controlled fatigue experiments performed on samples with a high fraction of cell structures reveal an up to 23 times increase in fatigue life compared to an essentially cell-free sample of the same grain configuration. Multiscale electron microscopy characterizations reveal that the cell structures serve as the soft barriers to the dislocation propagation and the partials are the main carrier for cyclic loading. The cell structures, stabilized by the segregated atoms and misorientation between the adjacent cells, are retained during the entire plastic deformation, hence, can continuously interact with dislocations, promote the formation of nanotwins, and provide massive 3D network obstacles to the dislocation motion. The compositional micro-segregation caused by the cellular solidification features serves as another non-negligible strengthening mechanism to dislocation motion. Specifically, the cell structures with a high density of dislocation debris also appear to act as dislocation nucleation sites, very much like coherent twin boundaries. This work indicates the potential of additive manufacturing to design energy absorbent alloys with high performance by tailoring the microstructure through the printing process.

Exploring crack growth behaviour is needed to establish accurate fatigue life predictions. Cracked specimens were tested under strain-controlled out-of-phase thermomechanical fatigue conditions. The tests included dwell times and three different minimum temperatures. Higher minimum temperature gave faster crack growth rates while the additions of dwell times showed no effects. Crack closure was observed in all the tests where the addition of dwell times and change in minimum temperature displayed little to no effect on crack closure stresses. Finite element models with a sharp stationary crack and material parameters switching provided acceptable predictions for the maximum, minimum, and crack closure stresses.

Powder bed fusion (PBF) methods offer the best material properties among metal additive manufacturing (AM) processes. Yet, alloy development for PBF is only at its infancy and has a great untapped potential. This originates from the high solidification rate within the melt pool and to exploit the full potential of materials produced by PBF methods, a diligent work lies ahead. This paper presents a high-throughput method to rapidly screen large compositional alloy intervals experimentally for their PBF feasibility, which can drastically reduce the time needed for alloy development and provide valuable data for modelling. Our method consists of two steps; co-sputtering and electron beam re-melting. First step produces an alloy gradient film on a sheet substrate. The film is then re-molted to produce a PBF mimicked microstructure. The method is successfully demonstrated on binary systems; Al-Ti,-Zr and-Nb and produced gradients in compositional ranges of 3-50 wt%Ti, 1-15 wt%Zr and 2-15 wt%Nb over a length of 200 mm. From the produced materials, the alloying efficiency could be investigated and determined regarding hardness and grain refinement. Zr shows the highest strength contribution per at% and the best grain refinement at low levels. However, at higher levels grain refinement efficiency decreases for Zr. (c) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

With the improvement in technology, additive manufacturing using metal powder has been a go-to method to produce complex-shaped components. With complex shapes being printed, the residual stresses (RS) developed during the printing process are much more difficult to control and manage, which is one of the issues seen in the field of AM. A simplified finite element-based, layer-by-layer activation approach for the prediction of residual stress is presented and applied to L-shaped samples built in two different orientations. The model was validated with residual stress distributions measured using neutron diffraction. It has been demonstrated that this simplified model can predict the trend of the residual stress distribution well inside the parts and give insight into residual stress evolution during printing with time for any area of interest. Although the stress levels predicted are higher than the measured ones, the impact of build direction on the development of RS during the building process and the final RS distributions after removing the base plate could be exploited using the model. This is important for finalizing the print orientation for a complex geometry, as the stress distribution will be different for different print orientations. This simplified tool which does not need high computational power and time can also be useful in component design to reduce the residual stresses.

We report the effect of cell structures on the fatigue behavior of additively manufactured (AM) 316L stainless steel (316LSS). Compared with the cell-free samples, the fatigue process of fully cellular samples only consists of steady and overload stages, without an initial softening stage. Moreover, the fully cellular sample possesses higher strength, lower cyclic softening rate and longer lifetime. Microscopic analyses show no difference in grain orientations, dimensions, and shapes. However, the fully cellular samples show planar dislocation structures, whereas the cell-free samples display wavy dislocation structures. The existence of cell structures promotes the activation of planar slip, delays strain localization, and ultimately enhances the fatigue performance of AM 316LSS.

The fabrication of gamma prime (γ′) strengthened nickel-based superalloys by additive manufacturing (AM) techniques is of huge interest from the industrial and research community owing to their excellent high-temperature properties. The effect of post-AM-processing heat treatment on the microstructural characteristics and microhardness response of a laser powder bed fused (LPBF) γ′ strengthened nickel-based superalloy, MAD542, is systematically investigated. Post-processing heat treatment shows the significant importance of tailoring the γ′ morphology. With insufficient solutioning duration time, coarse γ′ formed in the interdendritic region heterogeneously, due to the lack of chemical composition homogenization. The cooling rate from the super-solvus solutioning plays an important role in controlling the γ′ size and morphology. Spherical γ′ is formed during the air cooling while irregularly shaped γ′ formed during the furnace cooling. The following aging heat treatment further tunes the γ′ morphology and γ channel width. After two-step aging, cuboidal γ′ is developed in the air-cooled sample, while in contrast, bi-modally distributed γ′ is developed in the furnace cooled sample with fine spherical γ′ embedded in the wide γ channel between coarse irregular shaped secondary γ′. More than 90% of the grains recrystallized during solutioning treatment at the super-solvus temperature for 30 min. The rapid recrystallization kinetics are attributed to the formation of annealing twins which significantly reduced the stored energy. Microhardness responses from different heat-treated conditions were examined.

A unique melting strategy was implemented in electron beam-powder bed fusion (EB-PBF) of Alloy 718, resulting in the formation of a bimodal grain morphology consisting of fine equiaxed and columnar grains. The microstructure was preserved following various thermal post-treatments. The post-treated specimens were exposed to low cycle fatigue (LCF), and fatigue crack growth (FCG) tests in ambient air at 600 degrees C under pure and dwell-time (120 s) fatigue cycles. Clustered inclusions spanned a region of 100-600 mu m in length acted as the crack initiation site, reducing the specimens total fatigue life. When compared to pure fatigue cycles, dwell-time fatigue cycles reduced LCF life by approximately 35%, regardless of the thermal post-treatments. Due to a high fraction of grain boundary area in the as-built EB-PBF specimens, oxygen diffusion across the grain boundaries was enhanced. The intergranular fracture mode was favored in the plastic zone ahead of the crack tip, leading to rapid crack growth. No unbroken ligaments behind the crack front were found by high-resolution X-ray computed tomography, which was consistent with a large crack opening displacement linked to severe deformation around the crack tip.

Light weight metal parts produced with additive manufacturing have gained increasing interest from the aerospace industry in recent years. However, light weight parts often require thin walls which can have different material properties compared to thick bulk material. In this work, the fatigue properties of Ti-6Al-4 V produced by electron beam powder bed fusion have been investigated for samples with three different wall thicknesses ranging from 1.3 to 2.7 mm and in three different directions; 0°, 45°, and 90° relative to the build plate. Generally, the 90° specimens show worse fatigue life compared to both 0° and 45°. It was found that the fatigue strength is lower for thin samples compared to thicker samples when the stress is calculated from nominal thickness or calliper measurements. However, since materials produced by electron beam powder bed fusion often have a rough as-built surface, the load bearing area is not easy to determine. In this paper, four different methods for determining the load bearing area are presented. It is shown that if the surface roughness is considered when calculating the stress levels, the influence from specimen thickness decreases or even disappears. 

Strain rate dependent deformation behaviours of selective laser melted Alloy 718 (IN718) are systematically studied at 550 and 650 °C by slow strain rate testing, with a forged counterpart as a reference. Selective laser melted IN718 shows significant susceptibility to intergranular cavitation, resulting in ductility degradation with decreasing strain rate. Detailed fractography and cross section inspections are employed to identify the damage mechanisms. Creep rates are also estimated and compared with the conventional counterparts. The possible critical factors for the inferiority of time dependent damage resistance of selective laser melted IN718 are discussed.

To ensure the robust design freedom of metallic additive manufacturing, the fatigue properties and the dimensional limitation of as-built components by laser powder bed fusion (PBF-LB) are investigated. Fully reversed and strain-controlled fatigue tests were carried out on tubular specimens with different wall thicknesses, 1 mm and 2 mm, for the purpose of studying the thin-wall effect without having risk of buckling problem during compression. Two wrought conditions are also enclosed as a comparison, which are the cold worked (CW) and solution annealed condition (SA). In the as-built PBF-LB tubular specimens, deformed microstructure and deformation twins are discovered close to the surface region, together with a higher roughness of the inner surface due to the heat accumulation. The surface roughness is evaluated as micro-notches, and a higher fatigue notch factor, K-f, at lower applied strain range is revealed. The factors influencing K-f include, the non-conductive inclusions serving as crack initiation sites at the surface region, and the deformation twins formed by the local stress concentration. The strain-life of PBF-LB samples is comparable with the wrought samples. However, the fatigue strength of the responding mid-life stress shows greater difference and is in the following order, CW wrought &gt; PBF-LB &gt; SA wrought. Secondary cyclic hardening owing to deformation induced martensitic transformation is found in both of the wrought samples. Yet, only cyclic softening exhibits in the PBF-LB samples, which is the result of the suppressed martensitic transformation and the dislocation unpinning from the cell boundaries.

Heterophase interfaces play a crucial role in deformation microstructures and thus govern mechanical properties of multilayered composites. Here, we fabricated Ti/Nb multilayers by accumulative roll bonding (ARB) where shear bands became predominant with increasing rolling cycles. To explore correlation between micromechanical behavior and mechanical properties of the composites with various lamellar morphologies, in-situ high-energy X-ray diffraction tensile tests were performed. The results quantitatively reveal that the rapid strengthening of the composites with increasing ARB cycles mainly originates from the Nb layers strengthened by dislocations, grain boundaries and heterophase interfaces, and the {211} grains mostly contribute to the global strain hardening. The softer Ti grains also extend global strain hardening to a wide range and postpone necking. Furthermore, complete stress state analysis show that in the presence of extensive shear bands, significant load partitioning between the neighboring metals leads to triaxial stresses in each constituent and dislocations tend to slip along the shear direction. This promotes dislocation multiplication and motion, which is conducive to overall strength enhancement while maintaining a satisfactory ductility. These findings elucidate the effect of strong constraints of the interfaces on mechanical properties, which provides a fundamental understanding of load partitioning and strengthening mechanisms of the multilayers processed by multiple ARB cycles.

Microstructural evolution related to the mechanical response from isothermal dwell-fatigue testing at 700 °C of two austenitic steels, Esshete 1250 and Sanicro 25, is reported. Coherent Cu-precipitates and incoherent Nb-carbides were found to impede dislocation motion, increase hardening and improving the high temperature properties of Sanicro 25. Sparsely placed intergranular Cr- and Nb-carbides made Esshete 1250 susceptible to creep damage and intergranular crack propagation, mainly from interaction of the carbides and fatigue induced slip bands. Dynamic recrystallization of the plastic zone at the crack tip appeared to affect crack propagation of Sanicro 25 by providing an energetically privileged path.

The influence of hold time on the crack growth behaviour of a single crystal nickel base superalloy under in phase thermomechanical fatigue is investigated. Two da/dt models were calibrated using creep crack growth tests in the temperature range 750-950 degrees C: one based on K and the other on (C-t)(avg). The models were applied, in combination with a cycle dependent model, to predict da/dN of in-phase thermomechanical fatigue crack growth tests with 1-6 h hold time. The predictions based on K were inaccurate and generally non-conservative, whereas the predictions based on (C-t)(avg) were accurate. da/dt vs (C-t)(avg) followed a single trendline for all temperatures.

Strain-controlled out-of-phase thermo-mechanical fatigue tests at 100–500 °C and various strain ranges were conducted on five cast iron grades, including one lamellar, three compacted and one spheroidal graphite iron. Investigations of graphite morphology and matrix characteristics were performed to associate parameters, such as geometrical features of graphite inclusions and the matrix microhardness, to the thermo-mechanical fatigue performance of each grade. From this, thermo-mechanical fatigue life as a function of maximum stress at half-life, is found to decrease consistently with increasing average graphite inclusion length irrespective of the graphite content. In contrast, no evident correlation between the fatigue life and the matrix microhardness is observed.

Understanding of crack growth behaviour is necessary to predict accurate fatigue lives. Out-of-phase thermomechanical fatigue crack propagation tests were performed on FB2 steel used in high-temperature steam turbine sections. Testing results showed crack closure where the compressive part of the fatigue cycle affected crack growth rate. Crack closing stress was observed to be different, and had more influence on the growth rate, than crack opening stress. Crack growth rate was largely controlled by the minimum temperature of the cycle, which agreed with an isothermal crack propagation test. Finite element models with stationary sharp cracks captured the crack closure behaviour.

Relationships between microstructures and hardening nature of laser powder bed fused (L-PBF) 316 L stainless steel have been studied. Using integrated experimental efforts and calculations, the evolution of microstructure entities such as dislocation density, organization, cellular structure and recrystallization behaviors were characterized as a function of heat treatments. Furthermore, the evolution of dislocation-type, namely the geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs) and statistically stored dislocations (SSDs), and their impacts on the hardness variation during annealing treatments for L-PBF alloy were experimentally investigated. The GND and SSD densities were statistically measured utilizing the Hough-based EBSD method and Taylor's hardening model. With the progress of recovery, the GNDs migrate from cellular walls to more energetically-favourable regions, resulting in the higher concentration of GNDs along subgrain boundaries. The SSD density decreases faster than the GND density during heat treatments, because the SSD density is more sensitive to the release of thermal distortions formed in printing. In all annealing conditions, the dislocations contribute to more than 50% of the hardness, and over 85.8% of the total dislocations are GNDs, while changes of other strengthening mechanism contributions are negligible, which draws a conclusion that the hardness of the present L-PBF alloy is governed predominantly by GNDs.

The fatigue life of additively manufactured metals need to be improved before they can be introduced to flight critical aerospace structural applications. In this study, laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) and electron beam powder bed fusion (E-PBF) Ti6Al4V material were therefore subjected to four different surface post processes. Furthermore, variable amplitude fatigue testing were performed and compared to fatigue life predictions based on constant amplitude fatigue tests using a cumulative damage approach. The predictions were in good accordance with the experimental results and post processed L-PBF and E-PBF material showed an increase in fatigue life with >5 times.

The dwell-fatigue responses of high temperature materials, such as IN718, manufactured via additive manufacturing processes with different microstructures is of practical interest in terms of time-dependent cracking resistance at elevated temperature. In the present study, the dwell-fatigue cracking behaviours of IN718 manufactured via selective laser melting (SLM) with different heat treatments, and via electron beam melting (EBM) with different scanning strategies were compared at 550 degrees C and with a long 2160 s dwell-holding period. Comparison has also been made with a conventional forged counterpart. Detailed microstructure characterizations have been done to correlate the role of dislocation substructures on the dwell-fatigue damage mechanisms and cracking resistances. A mechanism regarding the susceptibility of the dislocation cell substructure in SLM materials to creep damage is proposed. In addition, the effects of other microstructure features on the dwell cracking resistance are also discussed.

An experimental printable gamma -strengthened nickel-based superalloy, MAD542, is proposed. By process optimization, a crack-free component with less than 0.06% defect was achieved by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF). After post-processing by solution heat treatment, a recrystallized structure was revealed, which was also associated with the formation of annealing twins. After the aging treatment, 60-65% gamma precipitates were obtained with a cuboidal morphology. The success of printing and post-processing the new MAD542 superalloy may give new insights into alloy design approaches for additive manufacturing.

This study investigates the anisotropic mechanical and microstructural behavior of the laser powder bed fusionLaser powder bed fusion (LPBF) manufactured Ni-based superalloy Hastelloy X (HX) by using slow strain rate (10⁻⁵ and 10⁻⁶s⁻¹) tensile testing (SSRT) at 700 °C. LPBF HX typically exhibits an elongated grain structure along the building direction (BD) and the texture analysis from the combination of neutron diffractionNeutron diffraction and EBSD discloses a major texture component <011> and a minor texture component <001> along BD, and a texture component <001> in the other two sample directions perpendicular to BD. Two types of tests have been performed, the horizontal tests where the loading direction (LD) is applied perpendicular to BD, and the vertical tests where LD is applied parallel to BD. The vertical tests exhibit lower strength but better ductility, which is explained by the texture effect and the elongated grain structure. A comparison of the mechanical behavior to the wrought HX shows that LPBF HX has better yield strength due to the high dislocation density as proved by TEM images. Creep voids are observed at grain boundaries in SSRT for both directions and are responsible for the poor ductility of the horizontal tests. The vertical ductility in SSRT maintains the same level as the reference tensile test at the strain rate of 10⁻³s⁻¹, due to the extra deformation capacity contributed by the discovered deformation twinningDeformation twinning and lattice rotation. The deformation twinningDeformation twinning, which is only observed in the vertical tests and has not been found in the conventionally manufactured HX, is beneficial to maintain the ductility but does not strengthen the material.

In this study, Alloy 718 specimens manufactured by Electron Beam Powder Bed Fusion process are subjected to two different post-treatments to have different microstructural features. Low cycle fatigue testing has been performed both parallel and transverse to the build direction. EB-PBF Alloy 718 exhibits anisotropic fatigue behaviour; the fatigue life is better along the parallel direction compared to the transverse direction. The anisotropy in fatigue life is related to the anisotropy in the Youngs modulus. The pseudo-elastic stress vs. fatigue life approach is presented as a potential solution to handle anisotropy in fatigue life assessment of additively manufactured engineering components.

Single-crystal nickel-base superalloys frequently experience two distinct fatigue crack growth modes. It has been observed that, under certain conditions, cracks transition from a path perpendicular to the loading direction to a crystallographic slip plane. As crystallographic cracking is associated with an increased fatigue crack growth rate, it is important to be able to predict when this transition occurs. In this work three different criteria for crystallographic cracking based on resolved anisotropic stress intensity factors are evaluated in a three-dimensional finite element context. The criteria were calibrated and evaluated using isothermal fatigue experiments on two different specimen geometries. It is suggested by the results, that a threshold value of a resolved shear stress intensity factor can act as a conservative criterion indicating cracking mode transition. Further, a trend hinting towards a loading frequency dependency could be observed.

The current paper presents work on identification and evaluation of a range of factors influencing accuracy and comparability of data generated by three laboratories carrying out stress-controlled thermo-mechanical fatigue crack growth tests. It addresses crack length measurements, heating methods and temperature measurement techniques. It also provides guidance for pre-cracking and use of different specimen geometries as well as Digital Image Correlation imaging for crack monitoring. The majority of the tests have been carried out on a coarse grain polycrystalline nickel-base superalloy using two phase angles, Out-of-Phase and In-Phase cycles with a triangular waveform and a temperature range of 400-750 degrees C.

A major challenge for additively manufactured structural parts is the low fatigue strength connected to rough as-built surfaces. In this study, Ti6Al4V manufactured with laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) and electron beam powder bed fusion (E-PBF) have been subjected to five surface processing methods, shot peening, laser shock peening, centrifugal finishing, laser polishing and linishing, in order to increase the fatigue strength. Shot peened and centrifugal finished L-PBF material achieved comparable fatigue strength to machined material. Moreover, the surface roughness alone was found to be an insufficient indicator on the fatigue strength since subsurface defects were hidden below smooth surfaces.

Low cycle fatigue (LCF) tests of the newly developed nickel-based superalloy M951G have been conducted at 900 and 1000 °C under different total strain amplitudes. Results show that the fatigue properties, fracture mechanisms as well as coarsening of γ′ precipitates are dependent on testing temperatures and strain amplitudes. Fatigue life and cyclic stress response under the same total strain amplitude at 1000 °C are lower than that at 900 °C, which is due to the degradation of microstructures, shearing of γ′ precipitates by dislocations and serious oxidation. Fracture modes change from intergranular cracking to the mixed mode cracking as the strain amplitude increases. At low strain amplitudes, M951G alloy fails in the form of intergranular cracking owing to the oxidation of surface carbides and the relatively low deformation rate. At higher strain amplitudes, the strain localization in grain interior, the distribution of broken carbides and eutectics as well as the relatively higher strain rate are the main reasons for the formation of transgranular microcracks. Ultimately, the effects of fatigue conditions on coarsening of cubic γ′ precipitates are also analyzed from the aspect of γ′ volume fraction, fatigue life and flow stress difference between the γ/γ′ interfaces.

Manufacturing of functional (ready to use) parts with the powder bed fusion method has seen an increase in recent times in the field of aerospace and in the medical sector. Residual stresses (RS) induced due to the process itself can lead to defects like cracks and delamination in the part leading to the inferior quality of the part. These RS are one of the main reasons preventing the process from being adopted widely. The powder bed methods have several processing parameters that can be optimized for improving the quality of the component, among which, build orientation is one. In this current study, influence of the build orientation on the residual stress distribution for the Ni-based super-alloy Inconel 718 fabricated by laser-based powder bed fusion method is studied by non- destructive technique of neutron diffraction at selected cross-sections. Further, RS generated in the entire part was predicted using a simplified layer by layer approach using a finite element (FE) based thermo-mechanical numerical model. From the experiment, the part printed in horizontal orientation has shown the least amount of stress in all three directions and a general tendency of compressive RS at the center of the part and tensile RS near the surface was observed in all the samples. The build with vertical orientation has shown the highest amount of RS in both compression and tension. Simplified simulations results are in good agreement with the experimental value of the stresses.

This study focuses on the dwell-fatigue crack propagation behavior of IN718 manufactured via selective laser melting (SLM). The dwell-fatigue test condition is 823 K (550 with a long 2160-s dwell-holding period. Effects of heat treatment and loading direction on dwell-fatigue crack propagation rates are studied. A grain boundary delta precipitate seems to be slightly beneficial to the dwell-fatigue cracking resistance of SLM IN718. A comparison has been made between SLM IN718 and forged counterparts at different temperatures, indicating that a creep damage mechanism is likely dominant for SLM IN718 under the present test condition. A general discussion of the inferior creep resistance of SLM IN718 is also included. The anisotropic dwell-fatigue cracking resistance has also been studied and rationalized with the effective stress intensity factor calculated from finite element modeling.

Additive manufacturing of Alloy 718 has become a popular subject of research in recent years. Understanding the process-microstructure-property relationship of additively manufactured Alloy 718 is crucial for maturing the technology to manufacture critical components. Fatigue behaviour is a key mechanical property that is required in applications such as gas turbines. Therefore, in the present work, low cycle fatigue behaviour of Alloy 718 manufactured by laser beam powder bed fusion process has been investigated. The material was tested in as-built condition as well as after two different thermal post-treatments. Three orientations with respect to the building direction were tested to evaluate the anisotropy. Testing was performed at room temperature under controlled amplitudes of strain. It was found that defects, inclusions, strengthening precipitates, and Youngs modulus influence the fatigue behaviour under strain-controlled conditions. The strengthening precipitates affected the deformation mechanism as well as the cycle-dependent hardening/softening behaviour. The defects and the inclusions had a detrimental effect on fatigue life. The presence of Laves phase in LB-PBF Alloy 718 did not have a detrimental effect on fatigue life. Youngs modulus was anisotropic and it contributed to the anisotropy in strain-life relationship. Pseudo-elastic stress vs. fatigue life approach could be used to handle the modulus-induced anisotropy in the strain-life relationship.

The γ′ phase strengthened Nickel-base superalloy is one of the most significant dual-phase alloy systems for high-temperature engineering applications. The tensile properties of laser powder-bed-fused IN738LC superalloy in the as-built state have been shown to have both good strength and ductility compared with its post-thermal treated state. A microstructural hierarchy composed of weak texture, sub-micron cellular structures and dislocation cellular walls was promoted in the as-built sample. After post-thermal treatment, the secondary phase γ′ precipitated with various size and fraction depending on heat treatment process. For room-temperature tensile tests, the dominated deformation mechanism is planar slip of dislocations in the as-built sample while dislocations bypassing the precipitates via Orowan looping in the γ′ strengthened samples. The extraordinary strengthening effect due to the dislocation substructure in the as-built sample provides an addition of 372 MPa in yield strength. The results of our calculation are in agreement with experimental yield strength for all the three different conditions investigated. Strikingly, the γ′ strengthened samples have higher work hardening rate than as-built sample but encounter premature failure. Experimental evidence shows that the embrittlement mechanism in the γ′ strengthened samples is caused by the high dislocation hardening of the grain interior region, which reduces the ability to accommodate further plastic strain and leads to premature intergranular cracking. On the basis of these results, the strengthening micromechanism and double-edge effect of strength and ductility of Nickel-base superalloy is discussed in detail.