Coherency loss in γ' precipitates in nickel-base superalloy

During a recent investigation concerning the growth of γ' precipitates in nickel-base superalloys it was observed that the sign of the lattice mismatch between the coherent particles and the matrix (γ) was important in determining the ease with which matrix dislocations could be incorporated into the interface to relieve coherency strains. Thus alloys with a negative misfit (ie. the γ' lattice parameter was smaller than the matrix) could lose coherency easily and γ/γ' interfaces would exhibit regularly spaced networks of dislocations, as shown in figure 1 for the case of Nimonic 115 (misfit = -0.15%). In contrast, γ' particles in alloys with a positive misfit could grow to a large size and not show any such dislocation arrangements in the interface, thus indicating that coherency had not been lost. Figure 2 depicts a large γ' precipitate in Nimonic 80A (misfit = +0.32%) showing few interfacial dislocations.