The evolution of microstructural features such as local grain size and local grain size distribution are essential in view of the final physical and mechanical properties of the nickel base alloy 718 for aircraft parts forged in a multi-step production route. Due to increasing standards and the need of the prediction of fracture mechanical properties, a multi-class grain size model for a more detailed microstructure prediction is necessary. Therefore, a multi-class model considers the real initial non-uniform grain size distribution and structure of the pre-material at the beginning of the forging process, which affects the evolution of grain sizes during thermo-mechanical treatment and leads to different results than commonly used uniform grain structures. The initial distribution is defined by grain classes according the ASTM standard. It is shown that the presence of different classes and distributions of grains are as import as the applied strain, strain rate and temperature on dynamic, meta-dynamic and static recrystallization. Additionally, dissolution processes of delta phase and grain growth kinetics are included in the model to properly indicate the recrystallized fractions and represent the resulting multi-class microstructure. A series of simulations with different initial distributions is discussed and compared with examined forged samples in terms of the resulting microstructure for typical forging parameters. Based on these results the microstructure model can be used in combination with collected process data to predict the resulting properties and for the design of new aircraft parts.
Effect of grain size distribution on mechanical properties of ultrafine grained Al severely deformed by ARB process and subsequently annealed
