Thermomechanical testing of nickel base superalloy single crystals

Thermomechanical response of single crystal superalloys during weld heating and cooling will affect cracking behavior in the heat-affected-zone (HAZ) and weld-metal (WM) regions. Thermomechanical response of these superalloys will depend on the phase fractions of ordered am ma-prime precipitates in the am ma matrix. During weld heating, the am ma-prime precipitates will dissolve as they approach the solvus temperature and some liquation may occur in the interdendritic regions. On cooling, the single-phase gamma matrix will decompose to a mixture of am ma and am ma-prime phases. In this work we evaluated the strength, ductility and reduction in area as a function of temperature during on heating and on cooling conditions to evaluate weldability.