SUPER ALLOYS

PREPARED BY:
Syed Nooruddin (D-12-MT-347)
Ali Asad Zaheer(D-12-MT-355)
Khurram Khan(D-12-MT-349)
Faisal Shabir (D-12-MT-384)
Manzoor Ahmed (D-12-MT-385)
Department of Metallurgy & Materials
Dawood University Of Engineering & Tech.(Karachi)

Contents

Introduction

Development

Composition

Types

Processing & Properties

Applications

References

Introduction
What is Superalloy?
A superalloy is a metallic alloy which can be used at
high temperatures, often in excess of 0.7 Tm ( absolute
melting temperature)

Superalloy is an alloy that exhibits excellent

mechanical strength and creep resistance at
high temperatures.

Alloying additions for solution strengthening

is by addition of lower amount of W, Mo, Ta,
Nb & for Precipitation hardening by addition
of of and formers like Ti, Al & Nb.

Examples of such alloys areHastelloy,

Inconel,Waspaloy,Rene alloys, Haynes
alloys, Incoloy, MP98T, TMS alloys, and CMSX
single crystal alloys.

Development of Super Alloys

Superalloys develop high temperature strength through Solid
solution strengthening(SSS).
SSS is a type of alloying that can be used to improve the
strength of the metals. It is the hardening mechanism process.
The technique works by adding atoms of one element (alloying
element) to the crystalline lattice of another element (the base
metal).

Composition of some Super alloys

Types of Super Alloys

Ni Based Superalloy.

Co Based Superalloy.

Fe-Ni Based Superalloy.

Iron based Super Alloys:

(a) 9-38 % nickel
(b) 15-22 % chromium
(c) 32-67 % iron

Common type of Iron based alloy is Incoloy

series.
Iron based Super alloys are characterised by high temperature as well
as room temperature strength.
Apart from this, it will have good resistance to creep , oxidation,
corrosion and wear.
Oxidation resistance increases with chromium content.

Cobalt based Super alloys:

(a) Up to 35% nickel
(b) 19-30 % chromium
(c) 30-65 % cobalt
Cobalt based alloys can retain their strength at
high temperature but they are not as strong as
nickel based alloys.

Nickel based alloys:

(a) 38-76% nickel
(b) Up to 27 % chromium
(c) Up to 20 % cobalt.
Some of the common type of nickel based alloys
are Nimonic, Hastelloy and Inconel.
These are the most common types of
Superalloy which are widely used in turbine
blades

Major phases in Nickel Superalloys

Gamma ()
Gamma Prime (')
Carbides
Topologically Close-Packed Phases

Gamma ()
The continuous matrix (called gamma) is an face-centered-cubic
(FCC) nickel-based austenitic phase that usually contains a high
percentage of solid-solution elements such as Co, Cr, Mo, and W.

SEM micrograph of minor microstructural

constituents of the alloy in the matrix.

Gamma Prime (')

The primary strengthening phase in nickel-based superalloys is Ni 3(Al,Ti),

and is called gamma prime ('). It is a coherently precipitating phase
(i.e., the crystal planes of the precipitate are in registry with the gamma
matrix) with an ordered FCC crystal structure.

Carbides
Carbon, added at levels of 0.05-0.2%, combines with reactive
elements such as titanium, tantalum, and hafnium to form carbides
(e.g., TiC, TaC, or HfC). During heat treatment and service, these
begin to decompose and form lower carbides such as M 23C6 and
M6C, which tend to form on the grain boundaries. These common
carbides all have an fcc crystal structure.

The general opinion is that in superalloys with grain

boundaries, carbides are beneficial by increasing rupture strength
at high tempeature.

Topologically Close-Packed
Phases

These are generally undesirable, brittle phases that can form

during heat treatment or service.
TCPs (Sigma, Mu, Laves, etc.) usually form as plates
(which appear as needles on a single-plane microstructure).
TCPs are potentially damaging for two reasons: they tie up g
and g ' strengthening elements in a non-useful form, thus reducing
creep strength, and they can act as crack initiators because of
their brittle nature.

True stresstrue strain flow curves for the Ni-based superalloy under different strain
rates and temperatures: (a) 1050 C, (b) 1100 C, (c) 1140 C, and (d) 1180 C.

Properties of Superalloys
Excellent mechanical strength and wear resistance at high
temperature.
Resistance to corrosion and oxidation at very high temperature.
Good surface stability.
High Impact toughness

APPLICATIONS
Nickel-based super alloys are widely used in load-bearing
structures to the highest homologous temperature
0.9 Tm, or 90% of their melting point.

Aerospace
Turbine blades and jet/rocket engines

Marine industry
Submarines

Nuclear reactors

Heat exchanger tubing

Industrial gas turbines

A jet engine (Rolls-Royce Trent 800)

Intermediate pressure compressor (IPC),

High pressure compressor (HPC),

High pressure turbine (HPT),

Intermediate pressure turbine (IPT),

Low pressure turbine (LPT),

and the pressure and temperature profiles along the engine.

Gas Turbine for Marine Propulsion

Pressurized water reactor vessel head

Gas Turbine at thermal power plant

Rocket Motor Engine

Turbine Blades (Jet Engine)

Nickel-based superalloy, about 65% of gamma-prime

precipitates in a polycrystalline gamma matrix.

References
http://www.msm.cam.ac.uk/phase-trans/2003/Superalloys/superalloys.html .
http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/5366695.html
Manufacturing process for engineering materials by Kalpakjian
Material science and Engg by William Callister
F. Zupani, T. Boncina, G. Lojen, B. Markoli, S. Spai, Structure of the continuously
cast Ni-based superalloy GMR 235, Journal of Materials Processing Technology 186
(2007) 200206
Dayong Cai, Liangyin Xiong, Wenchang Liu, Guidong Sun, Mei Yao, Development of
processing maps for a Ni-based superalloy, Materials Characterization 58 (2007)
941946
F. Zupanic, T. B oncina, A. Krizman, B. Markoli, S. Spaic, Microstructural
constituents of the Ni-based superalloyGMR 235 in the as-cast condition,
Scripta Materialia 46 (2002) 667672