Rhenium Effect on Creep Behavior of Ni-Base Superalloys
Modified MAR-M-200 single crystals with various amounts of rhenium were tested in tensile creep in <111>, <011> and <001> orientations. With the addition of rhenium, a significant improvement in creep resistance was attained. This is illustrated clearly in Figure 1. In order to understand the effect of the rhenium addition on the creep strength of Ni-base superalloy single crystals, transmission electron microscopy was used to analyze the microstructures and dislocation behavior. Creep samples with gauge length of 10 mm and diameter of 2.5 mm were tested at 900°C/380 MPa unless otherwise specified. The chemical composition of the alloy studied is 5Al-2Ti-lNb-9Cr-12(W + Re) with the balance Ni (in weight percentage). The rhenium contents were 0, 2, 1, or 6 wt. $ at the expense of tungsten. The samples were fully heat treated (l290°C/4 hrs. + 1080°C/4 hrs. + 870° C/32 hrs.) before testing. The oriented crystals (with 0 and 6 wt. $ Re, respectively) were creep tested to a strain of ~ 0.2$. Their detailed transmission microstructures are shown in Figures 2 and 3. In <111> crystals, cube slip, {001} <110> was observed while in <011> crystals, octahedral slip, {111}<101> was observed. Results similar to the <011> case were found in <001> crystals tested at 980°C/220 MPa.