Effect of Solution Heat Treatment Media on Microstructure and Hardness of Ni-Base Superalloy IN738LC

In this paper, effect of solution heat treatment media of IN738LC superalloy on the microstructure and hardness was investigated. Two solution heat treatment medias were selected, solubilizing in the normal or conventional furnace, and solubilizing in the salt base. For this purpose, the samples were solubilized in a temperature range of 1090-1200°C for 20-30 minutes in normal condition and 10-12 minutes in the salt bath, and then aged at 248°C in 850°C. The results of the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) showed that increasing the heating rate improves the solution process, and with increasing the temperature and time, the volume fraction of 'γ precipitates decreased by 26% in normal condition and 29% in salt bath. The size of the residual 'γ precipitates after solution in the salt bath is smaller than normal state, and at high temperatures, due to the activation of the aggregation mechanisms, the size and volume fraction of residual precipitates in the salt bath increased compared to the normal condition. Solution in the salt bath reduced the size of the primary'γ compared to the normal condition and increased the volume fraction of the secondary 'γ after the aging. After aging, the total volume fraction of precipitates increased by about 30% and 40%, respectively, in the normal condition and in salt bath. The results showed that the secondary 'γ precipitates are about 16nm smaller than usual and the hardness of the alloy is strongly influenced by the characteristics of 'γ precipitates and the variables of the solution treatment. Increasing the heating rate at the solution resulted in a further increase in hardness after aging and a further reduction in hardness after solution, and in both conditions increasing temperature and time of solution reduced the hardness of the samples after solution and increased after aging.