Materials Science & Engineering A 696 (2017) 323–330

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Materials Science & Engineering A

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/msea

Temperature dependence of tensile properties and deformation behaviors of MARK

nickel-base superalloy M951G
⁎
Luqing Cuia,b, Huhu Sua,b, Jinjiang Yua, , Jinlai Liua, Tao Jina, Xiaofeng Suna
a
Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China
b
School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Tensile behaviors of M951G alloy have been studied from 20 °C to 1100 °C. It shows that the higher W and Hf
M951G alloy additions enhance the tensile strength of M951G alloy greatly compared to M951 alloy from RT to 800 °C, which
Tensile behaviors has been analyzed from the points of deformation microstructures, the strong effect of solid solution
Continuous stacking faults strengthening and precipitation strengthening in detail. The continuous stacking faults present in the
Microstructures
microstructures at low temperatures, which have a significant influence on work hardening and rarely been
reported in the traditional casting superalloy previously. The primary deformation mechanisms include shearing
of the γ′ precipitates by a/2〈110〉 dislocations below 600 °C and by-passing of γ′ precipitates by a/2〈110〉 matrix
dislocations above 900 °C. At intermediate temperatures, it shows a transition from shearing to by-passing. At
last, the relationship between tensile properties and microstructures has been reasonably explained.

1. Introduction
Nickel-base superalloys are unique high temperature materials used
in gas turbine engines [1,2], which are due to their excellent resistance
to mechanical and chemical degradation [2]. The outstanding proper-
ties are mainly owing to their special microstructures, which consist of
ordered γ′ precipitates with L12 structure embedded in a fcc (face
centered cubic) nickel-base solid solution matrix [3].
Tensile test is a basic test for many metal materials and the results
are important reference for other experimental tests. In Ni-base super-
alloys, the three main deformation mechanisms during tensile test are
dislocation shearing γ′ precipitates, dislocation climbing and disloca-
tion by-passing γ′ precipitates via Orowan loop [4–6]. When γ′
precipitates sheared by dislocations during tensile deformation, differ-
ent dislocation configurations will be generated such as anti-phase
boundary (APB) and stacking fault [5,6]. Deformation microtwin [7]
and complex reaction between dislocations [8] also can be observed
during the tensile test.
Transition elements (such as W, Mo, Hf, Co, Cr etc.) are the most
important solid solution elements in superalloy, which can greatly
improve the mechanical properties of the alloys [9,10]. Among these
elements, Hf and W are of special interest as they are known to enhance
transverse creep properties and reduce the stacking fault energy (SFE)
of γ phase. Adding about 2% Hf to MAR-M200 alloy, the elongation is
increased from 1.6% to 9.8% when creep at 870 °C/420 MPa and the
lifetime is increased from 15 to 120 h [11]. The results from Yang et al.
show that with the increase of W additions, the stacking fault energy of
γ phase significantly decreases, and the steady state creep rate reduces
simultaneously [12]. In GH4586 alloy, when the amount of W increases
from 2% to 5%, the yield strength is increased from 860 to 910 MPa
when tensile at 800 °C [13].
Tensile tests of many superalloys have been carried out [14], while
the influence of the transition elements and temperature on their
outstanding properties are still unclear. In order to further study the
effects of W and Hf on the mechanical property, we designed a new
nickel-base superalloy, which is based on M951 [14] by adding 3% W
and 1.5% Hf additionally, and named as M951G. Therefore, in the
present work, we purpose to explore the tensile deformation mechan-
isms at different temperatures and analyze the effects of W and Hf on
tensile property.
2. Experimental procedure
The nominal chemical compositions of M951G alloy are listed in the
Table 1. The master alloy was remelted into the tensile samples in a
vacuum induction furnace. The mold preheating and pouring tempera-
ture were 900 and 1450 °C, respectively. The samples were heat treated
by 1210 °C×4 h, AC→1100 °C×4 h, AC→870 °C×24 h, AC (AC: air
cooling).
Then, the metallographic sample was mechanically polished and

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: jjyu@imr.ac.cn (J. Yu).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2017.04.065
Received 15 December 2016; Received in revised form 12 April 2017; Accepted 14 April 2017
Available online 14 April 2017
0921-5093/ © 2017 Published by Elsevier B.V.
L. Cui et al.
Table 1
Nominal compositions and γ′ content of M951 [14] and M951G alloys (wt%).
Alloys W Mo Nb Co Cr Al Hf others Ni
M951 3.5 3 2.2 5 9 6 0 0.091 Bal
M951G 6.5 3 2.2 5 9 6 1.5 0.091 Bal
etched in a solution of 20 g CuSO4+100 ml HCl+5 ml H2SO4+80 ml
H2O. The microstructure was analyzed using a JMS-6301F field-
emission scanning electron microscope (SEM). The volume fraction
and the size of γ′ precipitates were measured and calculated by the
Image-Pro Plus software. The partitioning behavior of alloy elements
after heat treatment between the γ and γ′ phases in M951G alloy
determined by a CAMECA SX-100 Electron Probe Microanalysis
(EPMA).
Tensile specimens with a diameter of 5 mm and a gauge length of
25 mm were machined. The tensile tests were carried out on an AG-
250KNE mechanical test machine from room temperature to 1100 °C
with a constant strain rate of 0.75 mm/min to rupture. During the test,
the temperature variation was maintained within ± 2 °C. Two identical
specimens were tested at each temperature.
After the tensile test, the discs for the transmission electron
microcopy (TEM) observation were cut perpendicularly to the loading
axis and 5 mm away from the fracture surfaces. The discs were thinned
to 50 µm, and then subjected to twin-jet polishing in a solution of
ethanol with 10 vol% perchloric acid at −25 °C and 20 V. The
microstructures of all specimens were examined using a JEM 2100
TEM operating at 200 kV.
3. Results
3.1. Microstructures before tensile test
The microstructures and the size distribution of the γ′ precipitates
for as-cast and heat treated M951G alloys are shown in Fig. 1. The γ′
precipitates of the as-cast sample display irregular morphology com-
pared to the heat-treated samples, as shown in Fig. 1a and b. The as-cast
M951G alloy contains about 60% volume fraction of the γ′ phase and a
mean size of the γ′ precipitates of 0.48 µm. After standard heat
treatment, the microstructure consists of cuboidal γ′ precipitates with
the same average size as the as-cast one and spherical γ′ particles of
65–75 nm mean diameter. The total volume percent of γ′ phase is about
54%, smaller than that of as-cast condition. The high annealing
temperature (aged at 1100 °C) may be responsible for the partial
dissolution of the γ′ phase, since the temperature range of the γ′
precipitates solution is 1136 °C to 1200 °C. The size distribution of the
γ′ precipitates in heat treated samples is more homogeneously than the
as-cast ones, as shown in Fig. 1a and b, which is also supported by the
FWHM in Fig. 1c and d.
3.2. Tensile behaviors
The tensile results of M951G alloy are illustrated in Fig. 2. Fig. 2a
shows the true stress-strain curves of M951G alloy at different
temperatures. At 20 °C, 600 °C and 700 °C, an obvious work hardening
takes place after the yield point. At 760 °C and 800 °C, only a weak
work hardening is observed after the yield point, then the stress
increases little by little with the temperature increasing until rupture.
At 900 °C, the work hardening and recovery softening achieve a state of
equilibrium, so the stress maintains a constant until rupture. The flow
stress at 1000 °C and 1100 °C gradually decreases after yield point until
rupture. The strain-hardening exponent (n), tensile strength, and
plasticity of M951G alloy are obtained from the tensile curves. The
strain-hardening exponents of M951G alloy at different temperatures
are shown in Fig. 2b. It is evident that n value increases to maximum at
Materials Science & Engineering A 696 (2017) 323–330
700 °C and then rapidly decreases to zero at 900 °C. Above 1000 °C, the
value of n is below zero, indicating the trend of the recovery softening is
larger than that of work hardening. The yield strength (YS) of M951G
Vγ′ (%)
alloy progressively decreases from 20 °C to 600 °C, then gradually
49.4 increases with the increase of temperature and reaches a peak at 800 °C.
54 After that, it drops sharply. The ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of
M951G almost remains the same from room temperature to 600 °C,
then increases with the temperature increasing and reaches its max-
imum at 700 °C. The UTS-temperature curve has the same trend above
700 °C as that of YS-temperature curve above 800 °C. The elongation
(EL) slightly increases from room temperature to 600 °C, then drops
quickly to the minimum at 700 °C corresponding to the maximum of
UTS, after that it increases rapidly with temperature until 1100 °C. The
trend of the reduction of area (R/A) is similar to that of the elongation.
It also can be observed that the yield strength of M951G alloy is much
higher than M951 alloy below 900 °C, as shown in Fig. 2c.
3.3. Deformation microstructures
3.3.1. Low temperatures
Similar deformation microstructures are observed at low tempera-
tures (blow 600 °C), which are consist of tangled dislocations in the γ
channel and shearing of γ′ precipitates by pairs of a/2〈101〉 matrix
dislocations (Fig. 3a and c) and continuous stacking faults (Fig. 3b and
d). The continuous stacking faults can be occasionally observed in the
single crystal superalloys [15], however, to the best of our knowledge,
this type of dislocation configuration has rarely been reported in the
traditional casting superalloy previously. The formation of the contin-
uous stacking faults in M951G alloy will be discussed in Section 4.1.1.
At 20 °C, the dislocations distribute unevenly throughout the specimen
and a large number of dislocations tangle in the γ matrix channel,
which lead to localized strain. This is in good agreement with the
relatively low tensile plasticity as shown in Fig. 2d. At 600 °C, an
interesting and special dislocation configuration is observed, as shown
in Fig. 3c. Several obvious characteristics can be observed in the
dislocation configuration: (i) the line directions of these dislocations
usually have 90° angles reorientation, indicating the occurrence of
cross-slip; (ii) the dislocations are very long in the TEM specimen,
which indicates that these dislocations are in the (001) plane. (iii) Most
of the dislocations with Burgers vector b=1/2[101]. These dislocations
characteristics show that this type of dislocation configuration may
form by the cross-slip of a/2〈101〉 matrix dislocations on {111} slip
planes in the horizontal γ matrix.
3.3.2. Intermediate temperatures
At intermediate temperatures, it shows a transition of deformation
mechanism from shearing to by-passing during tensile deformation.
Pairs of a/2〈101〉 dislocations and stacking faults cutting into γ′
precipitates can be seen, but no continuous stacking fault present at
intermediate temperatures. Some dislocation loops also can be occa-
sionally observed, indicating the bypassing of the γ′ particles by
dislocations occurs.
At 700 °C, a number of slip bands present in the microstructure (as
shown in Fig. 4a), consisting of high density of tangled dislocations,
which lead to considerable strain localization. Interaction between
dislocations from different slip systems results in significant work
hardening, which is in consistent with the maximum of the strain-
hardening exponent at 700 °C, as shown in Fig. 2b. Unlike the
dislocation configurations at 700 °C, the density of stacking faults at
800 °C is much higher, as shown in Fig. 4b. These stacking faults have
been studied by many researchers [4]. Caron et al. [16] proposes a
mechanism that these stacking faults form by the single perfect matrix
dislocation decomposition in the following way:
a/2 < 101 > → a/3 < 211 > + a/6 < 121 > + SF inγ′ (1)
It is generally believed that the a/3〈211〉 leading dislocation shears
324
L. Cui et al.
Fig. 1. The SEM images and the size distribution of the γ′ precipitates of M951G alloy. (a) As-cast sample. (b) Heat treated sample. (c)(d) The average edge length and FWHM of the γ′
precipitates in as-cast and heat treated samples, respectively.
into the γ′ precipitates leaving a stacking fault behind it, and the a/
6〈121〉 Shockley dislocation remains at the γ/γ′ interface. Additionally,
different extended directions of the stacking faults (marked by “I” and
“II”) in the same γ′ precipitate are also observed in Fig. 4c, which
certainly indicates that dislocations with different slip systems are
activated. Complex reactions have occurred between stacking faults “I”
and “II”, and a sessile dislocation has formed, the formation process will
be discussed in Section 4.1.3.
3.3.3. High temperatures
Different to the deformation mainly via shearing of γ′ precipitates
by dislocations at low temperatures, few stacking faults can be observed
at 900 °C, and no stacking faults present at 1000 °C and 1100 °C.
Dislocation loops can be frequently observed in Fig. 5a, c and d,
indicating that dislocation bypassing the γ′ precipitates becomes the
main deformation mechanism.
Some dislocation networks are observed at 900 °C in Fig. 5b.
Morphologically, most of them are tetragonal dislocation networks,
and the line directions of the dislocation nearly lie in the [110] or [110],
which deviate from the well-defined misfit orientations ([100] and
[010]) to some degrees. The dislocation networks are usually formed
during early tensile creep deformation under high temperature and low
stress. Tensile test is a brief deformation process, which is similar to the
deformation behavior in the initial creep stage. Although the tensile test
time is very short, the flow stress is much higher compared with the
creep stress at this temperature. So the dislocation networks still can
form in the tensile test. However, the tensile test time is too short for
these dislocations to change their line directions from the 〈110〉 to the
325
Materials Science & Engineering A 696 (2017) 323–330
〈100〉 direction.
The configurations of the dislocations after tensile tests at 1000 °C
and 1100 °C are similar. At 1100 °C, it can be observed that the
dislocation networks in the Fig. 5d is more regular and denser than
those in Fig. 5b and Fig. 5c. The dislocation networks can be classified
into two types, i.e. hexagonal (marked by “I”) and tetragonal (marked
by “II”) networks. The tetragonal networks are the same in Fig. 5b. The
line directions of some dislocations in hexagonal networks approxi-
mately orientate in the γ/γ′ misfit. It is worth to note that the number of
the dislocations in the γ′ precipitates at 1100 °C is smaller than that at
900 °C and 1000 °C. It can be rationalized as follows: (i) The flow stress
at 1100 °C is lower compared with other temperatures. (ii) The channel
width is much larger due to the greater dissolution of the γ′ precipitates
at 1100 °C, thus the Orowan bypassing resistance decreased. (iii) The γ/
γ′ interfacial dislocation networks at 1100 °C is more regular and
denser, which also have some resistance to the slipping of dislocations.
4. Discussion
4.1. Stacking fault
Fig. 6 shows tensile properties and corresponding deformation
microstructures of M951G alloy at various temperatures. In the present
work, stacking faults can be observed below 900 °C, but their appear-
ances and quantities vary remarkably with temperatures. The stacking
faults can be divided into two kinds according to their appearances, i.e.
continuous stacking fault as the low temperature type (as shown in
Fig. 6b and d), isolated stacking fault as the high temperature type (as
L. Cui et al. Materials Science & Engineering A 696 (2017) 323–330

Fig. 2. The tensile results of M951G alloy. (a) Typical tensile true stress-strain curves at various temperatures. Strain-hardening exponent (b), tensile strength (c) and tensile plasticity (d)
with temperature for M951G alloy.

shown in Fig. 6e and f). In addition, complex reactions relate to the
stacking faults also have been observed in Fig. 6g at 800 °C.
4.1.1. Continuous stacking fault
The continuous stacking faults can be observed at low temperatures,
as shown in Figs. 6b and 6d. Many researchers [15,17] have studied the
formation mechanisms of the continuous stacking fault in Ni-base
superalloys previously. The model provided by Décamps et al. [17] is
widely accepted. Décamps believed that these shearing processes are
initiated by a dissociated a/2〈110〉 matrix dislocation, and the propa-
gation of the leading partial creates this shearing process. A decrease in
the SFE of γ matrix or the channel width and an increase of the applied

Fig. 3. TEM images showing deformation microstructures of M951G at low temperatures: (a)(b) RT, (c)(d) 600 °C. Beam direction close to the [001] zone axial.

326
L. Cui et al. Materials Science & Engineering A 696 (2017) 323–330

Fig. 4. TEM images showing deformation microstructures of M951G alloy at intermediate temperatures: (a) 700 °C, (b)(c) 800 °C. Beam direction close to the [001] zone axial.

stress would favor this mechanism [17]. The channel width of M951G is the continuous stacking fault. Consequently, no continuous stacking
about 80 nm, moreover, plenty of spherical γ′ particles precipitate in faults occur above 600 °C.
the matrix channel, as shown in Fig. 1b, illustrating the width between
the γ′ precipitates is relatively narrow. In addition, a number of
4.1.2. Isolated stacking fault
transition elements are added to the M951G alloy, especially Co and
As shown in Fig. 6, the type of the stacking fault changes from
W, which can significantly reduce the SFE of γ matrix [12,13]. There-
continuous stacking fault to isolated stacking fault when the tempera-
fore, the SFE of the γ matrix should be very low. What's more, the flow
ture exceeds 600 °C. And the density of stacking faults increases to the
stress in the tensile test is much higher than the creep stress at the same
maximum at 800 °C, which is in contrast with the increase of the SFE in
temperature. Thus, it can be speculated that the continuous stacking
γ′ phases with an increase in temperature [19]. It can be rationalized
faults in Fig. 6 form in this model. It has been reported that the SFE of
from the following viewpoints. The deformation mechanism is shown in
many disordered face centered cubic materials increases by a factor of 2
Eq. (1). From the viewpoint of energy, a/2〈110〉 cannot dissociate, as
when temperature increases from 0 °C to 350 °C [18]. Therefore, it is
the Ea/2〈110〉 < Ea/6〈112〉+Ea/3〈112〉, regardless of SFE of γ′ phase. It
confirm that the SFE of γ matrix increases significantly above 600 °C.
needs some necessary energy to keep the reaction balance. However,
The thermodynamic conditions cannot be satisfied for the formation of
the misfit energy between the γ and γ′ phases can just supply the energy

Fig. 5. TEM images showing deformation microstructures of M951G alloy at high temperatures: (a)(b) 900 °C, (c) 1000 °C, (d) 1100 °C. Beam direction close to the [001] zone axial.

327
L. Cui et al.
Fig. 6. The tensile properties and corresponding deformation microstructures of M951G alloy at various temperatures. (a)(b) RT, (c)(d) 600 °C, (e) 700 °C, (f)(g) 800 °C and (h) 1100 °C.
needed for the reaction. Generally, the thermal expansion coefficient of
ordered solid solution is smaller than disordered one [20], so the misfit
becomes more negative with the increase of temperature. This leads to
the decomposition of a/2〈101〉 matrix dislocation at γ/γ′ interface from
700 °C, and more stacking faults present in γ′ precipitates at 800 °C.
However, when the temperature is above 900 °C, the SFE of the γ′ phase
is too high for the a/2〈110〉 perfect dislocation to dissociate. Conse-
quently, the stacking fault in the γ′ precipitate does not occur.
4.1.3. The reactions relate to the stacking faults
As shown in Fig. 6g, complex reactions have occurred between
stacking faults “I” and “II”, resulting in the formation of a sessile
dislocation. A possible formation process is schematic illustrated in
Fig. 7. Two matrix dislocations with different Burgers vector dissociate
at the γ/γ′ interfaces (as shown in Fig. 7b) and the dissociation
mechanism is the same as shown in Eq. (1). The a/3〈112〉 leading
Fig. 7. Schematic illustration of the formation process of the sessile dislocation in the γ′ phase in Fig. 4c.
328
Materials Science & Engineering A 696 (2017) 323–330
dislocations shear into the γ′ precipitate and react at the intersection of
(111) and (111) glide plane in the following way (as shown in Fig. 7c):
a/3[112] + a/3[211] → a /3[101] (2)
The geometric and thermodynamic conditions can be satisfied for
Eq. (2). By calculation, the line direction and the glide plane of the a/
3[101] dislocation are [101] and (010), respectively. Thus the a/3[101]
dislocation is a pure edge dislocation. It should be noted that the a/
3[101] dislocation is something like Lomer-cottrell dislocation lock,
which is frequently observed in the fcc metal. Therefore, the newly
formed dislocation (called quasi-Lomer-cottrell dislocation lock) can
neither slip on the (111) plane nor (010) plane. The reason why the
Burgers vector of the newly formed dislocation differs from sessile
dislocation of Lomer-cottrell dislocation lock may be due to the crystal
structure difference between LI2 superstructure of γ′ phase and ordinary
fcc metal, which results in the different decomposition of a/2〈101〉
L. Cui et al.
Fig. 8. The element segregation between γ and γ′ phases in the M951G alloy determined
by EPMA. K=Cγ′/Cγ and K−1=Cγ/Cγ′ defined as the ratio of the elements in the γ′ phase
to the γ phase and the γ phase to γ′ phase.
dislocation. The special dislocation configuration has an important
impact on the work hardening.
4.2. The yield strength of M951 and M951G alloys
As shown in Fig. 6, the yield strength of M951G alloy is much higher
than M951 below 800 °C. It can be interpreted from the following
viewpoints: (i) At lower temperatures (below 600 °C), compared with
M951 alloy [14], numbers of continuous stacking faults present in the
microstructure of M951G alloy. The significant reduction of SFE by
adding W and Hf is favorable for the formation of continuous stacking
faults, which could block the mobile dislocations and increase the
resistance of cross-slip. At higher temperatures (600–800 °C), the high
density of tangled dislocations in γ matrix channel (as shown in Fig. 6e)
and lots of stacking faults in γ′ precipitates (as shown in Fig. 6f)
significantly impede the cross-slip of dislocations in the {111} planes.
Furthermore, the formation of quasi-Lomer-cottrell dislocation lock also
has some impact on work hardening at intermediate temperatures. (ii)
The higher γ′ content (about 54%) of M951G alloy compared with
M951 alloy, as shown in Table 1, also has an impact on tensile strength.
(iii) As shown in Fig. 8, in the present study, transition elements W and
Hf tend to segregate to the γ matrix and γ′ precipitates respectively.
Thus, the higher W and Hf additions (as shown in Table 1) in the
M951G alloy are expected to result in a stronger effect of solid solution
strengthening. Therefore, the yield strength of M951G alloy is much
higher than M951 below 800 °C. However, when the temperature above
900 °C, partial γ′ phase has dissolved and the dominant deformation
mechanism of both M951 and M951G alloys changes from shearing to
bypassing. Hence the strength intervals between M951 alloy and
M951G alloy to become increasingly narrow above 800 °C.
4.3. Relationship between tensile properties and deformation
microstructures
As shown in Fig. 6, the tensile properties and deformation micro-
structures vary significantly with the change of temperatures. At low
temperatures, the majority of plastic deformation takes place in γ
phase. It has been reported that the strength of the γ phase decreases
from room temperature to 600 °C [21], which may be responsible for
the reduction of the yield strength from room temperature to 600 °C.
The deformation at room temperature is very inhomogeneous and large
numbers of dislocations tangle in the γ matrix channel as shown in
Fig. 6a, which lead to significant strain localization. Thus, the tensile
plasticity at room temperature is very low.
It can be seen that the ultimate strength reaches the maximum at
329
Materials Science & Engineering A 696 (2017) 323–330
700 °C, as shown in Fig. 6. With the help of thermal activation the a/
2〈101〉 matrix dislocations in the γ′ precipitates may cross-slip from the
{111} plane to the {100} plane and form Kear-Wilsdorf lock, which
would increase the strength of alloy [22]. Furthermore, the high density
of dislocations tangle in γ matrix channel and fierce interaction
between dislocations from different slip systems at 700 °C, as shown
in Fig. 6e, also have a significant influence on the work hardening.
As shown in Fig. 6, the M951G alloy shows an obvious low ductility
at 700 °C. The behavior of intermediate temperature brittleness (ITB)
has been studied by many researchers previously. There are plenty of
reasons which can lead to ductility minima of alloys, such as strain
localization [23], a change of the deformation mechanisms [24] and
instability of γ′ phase during exposure at high temperatures [25]. As
illustrated in Fig. 6, the primary deformation mechanism blow 600 °C is
the shearing of γ′ phase by a/2〈101〉 matrix dislocations; the disloca-
tions bypassing the γ′ precipitates becomes the main mode above
900 °C, and both deformation mechanisms are simultaneously observed
at intermediate temperatures. At 700 °C, numbers of slip bands
consisting of high density of tangled dislocations are present in γ
matrix channel (as shown in Fig. 6e), which lead to inhomogeneous
deformation and significant localized strain. Consequently the ductility
minimum at 700 °C is due to strain localization and a change of the
deformation mechanisms.
As shown in Fig. 6, the yield strength reaches the maximum at
800 °C. With the increase of temperature from 700 °C to 800 °C, the
strength of γ′ precipitates increases [21] as well as the SFE of γ′ phase
enhances [9,26]. Then it is difficult for a/3〈112〉 super-partial disloca-
tions to cut into the γ′ precipitates at 800 °C. In order to maintain the
same applied strain rate at 700 °C and 800 °C, the yield strength at
800 °C is higher than that at 700 °C. What's more, the plenty of stacking
faults in γ′ precipitates and the formation of the quasi-Lomer-cottrell
dislocation lock at 800 °C also create barriers for cross-slip. Therefore,
the yield strength at 800 °C higher compared with that at 700 °C.
The tensile strength of M951G alloy rapidly decreases when
temperature above 800 °C, as shown in Fig. 6. Due to the coarsening
of γ′ phase present at local areas and partial dissolution of the γ′
precipitates, the strength drops obviously at higher temperatures. On
the other hand, the dominate deformation mechanism has changed
from shearing to bypassing above 800 °C. The local Orowan resistance
of the dislocations slipping in channels is as follows [3]:
2 Gb
τ=
3 h (3)
where G is the shear modulus, b the Burgers vector, and h is the channel
width. Due to the higher degree dissolution of the γ′ phase, the channel
width at 1100 °C is much larger than at other temperatures, therefore
the yield strength is very low at 1100 °C.
5. Conclusions
The microstructures of M951G alloy were characterized by scanning
electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy after tensile
tests at different temperatures, and the corresponding deformation
mechanisms have been analyzed in detail. The following conclusions
can be drawn from this work:
1) The stacking faults in present study can be divided into two types
according to their appearances, i.e. continuous stacking fault as the
low temperature type (20–600 °C), isolated stacking fault as the high
temperature type (700–900 °C).
2) The higher additions of W and Hf enhance the tensile strength of
M951G alloy below 800 °C, which has been rationalized from the
points of deformation microstructures, the strong effect of solid
solution strengthening and precipitation strengthening.
3) The reactions relate to the stacking faults from different slip systems
L. Cui et al.
occur at 800 °C, and a sessile dislocation is formed, which has some
influence on work hardening.
4) The primary deformation mechanisms include shearing of the γ′
precipitates by a/2〈110〉 dislocations below 600 °C and by-passing
of γ′ precipitates by a/2〈110〉 matrix dislocations above 900 °C. At
intermediate temperatures, it shows a transition from shearing to
by-passing.
Acknowledgments
This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China (NSFC) under Grant nos. 50931004 and
51571196. The authors are grateful for those supports.
References
[1] Q.H. Wu, J. Zhang, Y.S. Luo, Composition and mechanical property of DD6
superalloy revert, Mater. Sci. Forum 788 (2014) 488–492.
[2] M. Kolbe, K. Neuking, G. Eggeler, Dislocation reactions and microstructural
instability during 1025 °C shear creep testing of superalloy single crystals, Mater.
Sci. Eng. A 234 (1997) 877–879.
[3] T.M. Pollock, A.S. Argon, Creep resistance of CMSX-3 nickel base superalloy single
crystals, Acta Metall. Mater. 40 (1992) 1–30.
[4] L. Rémy, A. Pineau, B. Thomas, Temperature dependence of stacking fault energy in
close-packed metals and alloys, Mater. Sci. Eng. 36 (1978) 47–63.
[5] H. Rouault-Rogez, M. Dupeux, M. Ignat, High temperature tensile creep of CMSX-2
Nickel base superalloy single crystals, Acta Metall. Mater. 42 (1994) 3137–3148.
[6] A. Sengupta, S.K. Putatunda, et al., Tensile behavior of a new single-crystal nickel-
based superalloy (CMSX-4) at room and elevated temperatures, J. Mater. Eng.
Perform. 3 (1994) 73–81.
[7] C.G. Tian, G.M. Han, C.Y. Cui, X.F. Sun, Effects of Co content on tensile properties
and deformation behaviors of Ni-based disk superalloys at different temperatures,
Mater. Des. 88 (2015) 123–131.
[8] D. Qi, B. Fu, K. Du, T. Yao, C. Cui, J. Zhang, H. Ye, Temperature effects on the
transition from Lomer-Cottrell locks to deformation twinning in a Ni-Co-based
superalloy, Scr. Mater. 125 (2016) 24–28.
[9] F. Diologent, P. Caron, On the creep behavior at 1033 K of new generation single-
crystal superalloys, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 385 (2004) 245–257.
[10] S. Ma, L. Carroll, T.M. Pollock, Development of γ phase stacking faults during high
temperature creep of Ru-containing single crystal superalloys, Acta Mater. 55
330
Materials Science & Engineering A 696 (2017) 323–330
(2007) 5802–5812.
[11] D.N. Duhl, C.P. Sullivan, Some effects of hafnium additions on mechanical
properties of a columnar-grained nickel-base superalloy, J. Met. 23 (1971) 38–40.
[12] N.S. Yang, Y.H. Wei, H.Z. Fu, W.G. Li, R.D. Tang, Influence of W and Co on high
temperature creep behaviour of Ni-20Cr base alloys, Acta Metall. Sin. 17 (1981)
44–49.
[13] G.P. Zhao, B.K. Zhao, Behavior of W and Hf in GH586 alloy, Acta Metall. Sin. 31
(1995) S193–S197.
[14] Z.W. Lian, J.J. Yu, et al., Temperature dependence of tensile behavior of Ni-based
superalloy M951, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 489 (2008) 227–233.
[15] G.B. Viswanathan, P.M. Sarosi, M.F. Henry, D.D. Whitis, W.W. Milligan, M.J. Mills,
Investigation of creep deformation mechanisms at intermediate temperatures in
René 88 DT, Acta Mater. 53 (2005) 3041–3057.
[16] P. Caron, T. Khan, P. Veyssière, On precipitate shearing by superlattice stacking
faults in superalloys, Philos. Mag. A 57 (1988) 859–875.
[17] B. Décamps, S. Raujol, et al., On the shearing mechanism of gamma' precipitates by
a single a/2〈110〉 dissociated matrix dislocations in Ni–based superalloys, Philos.
Mag. A 84 (2004) 91–107.
[18] A. Sengupta, S.K. Putatunda, L. Bartosiewicz, J. Hangas, P.J. Nailos, M. Peputapeck,
F.E. Alberts, Tensile behavior of a new single crystal nickel-based superalloy
(CMSX-4) at room and elevated temperatures, J. Mater. Eng. Perform. 3 (1994)
664–672.
[19] X.G. Wang, J.L. Liu, T. Jin, X.F. Sun, Tensile behaviors and deformation mechan-
isms of a nickel-base single crystal superalloy at different temperatures, Mater. Sci.
Eng. A 598 (2014) 154–161.
[20] L. Müller, T. Link, M. Feller-Kniepmeier, Temperature dependence of the thermal
lattice mismatch in a single crystal nickel-base superalloy measured by neutron
diffraction, Scr. Metall. Mater. 26 (1992) 1297–1302.
[21] P. Beadmore, R.G. Davies, T.L. Johnston, On the temperature dependence of the
flow stress of nickel-base alloys, Trans. AIME 245 (1969) 1537–1545.
[22] W. Österle, D. Bettge, B. Fedelich, H. Klingelhöffer, Modelling the orientation and
direction dependence of the critical resolved shear stress of nickel-base superalloy
single crystals, Acta Mater. 48 (2000) 689–700.
[23] Z. Chu, J. Yu, X. Sun, H. Guan, Z. Hu, Tensile property and deformation behavior of
a directionally solidified Ni-base superalloy, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 527 (2010)
3010–3014.
[24] D. Bettge, W. Oeesterle, J. Ziebs, Temperature dependence of yield strength and
elongation of the nickel-base superalloy IN 738 LC and the corresponding
microstructural evolution, Z. Met. 86 (1995) 190–197.
[25] S.M. Copley, B.H. Kear, G.M. Rowe, The temperature and orientation dependence of
yielding in Mar-M200 single crystals, Mater. Sci. Eng. 10 (1972) 87–92.
[26] J. Courbon, F. Louchet, On the mechanisms of formation of superlattice stacking
faults in L12 precipitates embedded in a F.C.C. matrix, Phys. Status Solidi A 137
(1993) 417–428.