Cracks in superalloys

Abstract: Gas turbines are widely used in industry for power generation and as a power source at hard to reach locations where other possibilities for electrical power supplies are insufficient. New ways of producing greener energy is needed to reduce emission levels. This can be achieved by increasing the combustion temperature of gas turbines. High combustion temperatures can be detrimental and degrade critical components. This raises the demands on the high temperature performance of the superalloys used in gas turbine components. These components are frequently subjected to different cyclic loads combined with for example dwell-times and overloads at elevated temperatures, which can influence the crack growth. Dwell-times have been shown to accelerate crack growth and change cracking behaviour in both Inconel 718, Haynes 282 and Hastelloy X. On the other hand, overloads at the beginning of a dwell-time cycle have been shown to retard the dwell-time effect on crack growth in Inconel 718. More experiments and microstructural investigations are needed to better understand these effects.The work presented in this thesis was conducted under the umbrella of the research program Turbo Power; "High temperature fatigue crack propagation in nickel-based superalloys", where I have mainly looked at fatigue crack growth mechanisms in superalloys subjected to dwell-fatigue, which can have a devastating effect on crack propagation behaviour. Mechanical testing was performed under operation-like cycles in order to achieve representative microstructures and material data for the subsequent microstructural work. Microstructures were investigated using light optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques such as electron channeling contrast imaging (ECCI) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). The outcome of this work has shown that there is a significant increase in crack growth rate when dwell-times are introduced at maximum load (0 % overload) in the fatigue cycle. With the introduction of a dwell-time there is also a shift from transgranular to intergranular crack growth for both Inconel 718 and Haynes 282. The crack growth rate decreases with increasing overload levels in Inconel 718 when an overload is applied prior to the dwell-time. At high temperature, intergranular crack growth was observed in Inconel 718 as a result of oxidation and the creation of nanometric voids. Another observed growth mechanism was crack advance along δ-phase boundaries with subsequent oxidation of the δ-phase. This thesis comprises two parts. Part I gives an introduction to the field of superalloys and the acting microstructural mechanisms related to fatigue and crack propagation. Part II consists of five appended papers, which report the work completed as part of the project.