Materials Science and Engineering A 499 (2009) 215–220

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Materials Science and Engineering A

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

Alloy design and development of INCONEL718 type alloy

S.H. Fu, J.X. Dong ∗ , M.C. Zhang, X.S. Xie
High Temperature Materials Research Laboratories, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The effect of alloying elements such as Al, Ti, Nb, W and Co in INCONEL 718 type alloys on phase pre-
Received 1 June 2007 cipitation behavior has been investigated by means of Thermo-Calc software. The results show that both
Received in revised form 3 September 2007 the solvus temperature and fraction of phases in 718 type alloys has been significantly changed with
Accepted 13 November 2007
variation these alloying elements. The experimental results also reveal that precipitation kinetics of ı,
  and   phases in developed 718 type alloys have been changed. The alloy with higher content of Al
Keywords:
shows microstructural stability superior to that of conventional 718 alloy. Based on thermodynamical and
Alloy design
experimental results, the optimum content of Al, Ti and Nb of the developed 718 type alloy without W
718 type alloy
Thermo-Calc
and Co additions has been determined to be 1%, 1% and 5.5%, respectively.
Precipitation behavior © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction newly developed 718 type alloy. Based on thermodynamic calcu-

lation and experimental results, several modified 718 type alloys
INCONEL 718 is a nickel-base superalloy strengthened mainly have been suggested and the newly developed 718 type alloys can
by Ni3 Nb type   and partially by Ni3 Al type   precipitation. Since be used beyond 650 ◦ C.
its invention in the 1960s, INCONEL 718 has found wide applica-
tion in different high-temperature industries because of its unique
2. Results of “Thermo-Calc” calculation
mechanical properties and good workability. INCONEL 718 is still
today’s most widely used superalloy in the world [1]. However, it
Thermodynamic calculations were performed on a variety of
cannot be used at temperatures higher than 650 ◦ C because of the
elements such as Al, Ti, Nb, W and Co via Thermo-Calc software and
instability of its main strengthening phase   .
occasionally JmatPro software to study the effect of these alloying
In the past more than 20 years many researchers did a lot of
elements on phase precipitation behavior. All these calculations are
work to improve the structure stability of INCONEL 718 at high
based on the chemistry of conventional INCONEL718 alloy. Minor
temperatures and intended to develop a new 718 type alloy to
elements such as P, S and trace element Mg are not included because
be used beyond 650 ◦ C [2–9]. One of the methods is to control  
they are not available in current Thermo-Calc database.
and   phase precipitation behavior by means of adjustment of Al,
Thermodynamic calculation results indicate that the effect of
Ti and Nb contents. The other idea is to strengthen the  matrix
increasing Al shows a strong increase in   solvus (Fig. 1a) while ı
by altering the content of solid solution elements such as W and
phase solvus shows mildly decrease when Al level is less than 2%,
Co. The adjustment of these alloying elements can change phase
after that it dramatically decreases (Fig. 1c). Laves phase precipita-
precipitation behavior. If detailed information dealing with phase
tion and the appearance of  phase are occurred when Al content
precipitation behavior can be obtained before experimental work
reaches 2% (Fig. 3a and b). In fact, when Al content is beyond 1.5%,
for alloy development, a lot of time can be saved and the develop-
 phase has already precipitated in a considerable scale. Fig. 2a
ment cost can also be reduced. In recent years, computer modeling
shows the fraction of   increases greatly while the fraction of
based on experimental data plays an increasing role in alloy design
ı phase decreases remarkably with the increment of Al content
and development.
(Fig. 2b).
This paper concentrates on the study of the effect of Al, Ti, Nb,
With the increase of Ti content, the   solvus increases rapidly
W and Co on phase precipitation behavior via thermodynamic cal-
and reaches a maximum at 2% Ti and then decreases (Fig. 1a). Ther-
culation to determine the optimum range of alloying elements in
modynamic calculation results present a certain amount of  phase
and  phase precipitation when Ti content is greater than 2%. In fact,
when Ti content is beyond 1.2%,  phase has already precipitated in
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 10 6233 2884; fax: +86 10 6232 7283. a considerable scale (Fig. 3c). In comparison with Al, Ti has a mild
E-mail address: jxdong@mater.ustb.edu.cn (J.X. Dong). effect on   solvus and its fraction (Figs. 1a and 2a). Titanium has no

0921-5093/$ – see front matter © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.msea.2007.11.115
216 S.H. Fu et al. / Materials Science and Engineering A 499 (2009) 215–220

Fig. 1. The variation of Al, Ti, Nb, W and Co content on   and ı phase solvus.

significant effect on ı phase solvus (Fig. 1c), but it does decrease the
fraction of ı phase though its effect is no greater than Al (Fig. 2b).
In comparison with Al and Ti, Nb has no significant effect on
  solvus and its fraction (Figs. 1a and 2a). However, it evidently
increases ı phase solvus and its fraction (Figs. 1c and 2b).
Mechanical properties are determined not only by precipita-
tion hardening phases but also by the alloy matrix. The matrix can
be strengthened by solid solution strengthening elements such as
W and Co. Co can reduce stacking fault energy of the  matrix.
Tungsten mainly partitions into  matrix to strengthen it by solid
solution strengthening and reduce bulk diffusivity. Tungsten can
slightly increase   solvus and decrease ı phase solvus (Fig. 1b and
d). Cobalt has a little effect on   solvus (Fig. 1b) and it slightly
increases ı phase solvus (Fig. 1d). The calculation results also indi-
cate that W and Co both have no significant effect on the fraction
of   and ı phase because they mainly strengthen  matrix.
However, when W content is greater than 2%, a certain amount
of Laves phase can precipitate and its precipitation temperature is
very close to 650 ◦ C (Fig. 3d). With the increase of Co content (sub-
stitution Co for Fe), the fraction of  phase and  phase increases
greatly and when its content is beyond 10%, Laves phase can directly
form from liquid as primary MC, while the formation tendency of ␣-
Cr decreases remarkably (Fig. 3e). On the other hand, if equal weight
of Ni is substituted with Co or Fe, the fraction of main strengthening

Fig. 2. The variation of Al, Ti and Nb content on fraction of   and ı phase.

 S.H. Fu et al. / Materials Science and Engineering A 499 (2009) 215–220 217

Fig. 3. Thermo-Calc calculation phase diagrams. (a) 0.5% Al; (b) 2% Al; (c) 1.2% Ti; (d) 2% W; (e) 15% Co.
218 S.H. Fu et al. / Materials Science and Engineering A 499 (2009) 215–220

Table 1
The effect of increasing Al, Ti, Nb, W and Co content on possible phases’ formation
tendency in 718 type alloys

Elements   +   ı Laves ␣-Cr  

Al ↑↑↑↑ ↓↓↓ ↑↑ ↑ – ↑↑↑

Ti ↑↑ ↓ ↑↑ ↑↑ ↑↑↑ ↑↑
Nb – ↑↑↑ ↑↑ – – ↑↑
W – – ↑↑↑ – ↑↑ –
Co – – ↑ ↓↓↓ ↑↑↑ ↑↑↑

↑↑↑: very strong; ↑↑: strong; ↑: weak; –: no effect.

phase   both will obviously decrease. Therefore, nickel content in

INCONEL718 cannot be reduced.
From above calculated results it can be concluded that Al has
a more significant effect on   and ı phase solvus than other ele-
ments. Titanium has a mild effect on   solvus than Al. Niobium can
raise ı phase solvus. Tungsten and cobalt have a little or almost no
effect on   and ı phase solvus.
Table 1 lists the effect of Al, Ti, Nb, W and Co on the formation
tendency of possible phases in 718 type alloys. From Table 1 it can be
seen that almost all these elements in certain extent can promote
Laves phase formation. All these elements can also accelerate the
formation tendency of  phase except W. Titanium, tungsten and
cobalt all can promote  phase formation. Tungsten is the strongest
element to promote Laves phase formation among all these inves-
tigated elements.

3. Experimental results

Based on the thermodynamic calculation results, chemical

compositions of several experimental alloys were established in
comparison with alloy 718 (Table 2). The principal chemistry dif-
ferences between the alloys are highlightened. For simplification
a routine heat treatment of INCONEL718 alloy was still adopted
for all newly developed 718 type alloys. Long time exposures were
conducted at 680 ◦ C till 1000 h. The weight fractions of precipi-
tated phases in 718 type alloys were determined by the quantitative
method of phase extraction and microchemical phase analyses.
Microstructure characterization was investigated by scanning and
transmission electron microscopies (SEM, TEM).

Fig. 4. The microstructure of 718 type alloys with different content of Al aging at
3.1. The effect of Al on precipitation behavior of   and   680 ◦ C for 1000 h. (a) 718 alloy; (b) alloy 1; and (c) alloy 3.

Quantitative phase analyses results indicate that the weight

3.2. The effect of Al on phase precipitation behavior at the grain
fractions of   and   in alloy 718, alloy 2 and alloy 3 after fully
boundaries
heat treatment are 15.6, 16.7 and 18.6%, respectively, which is in
agreement with the calculating results (Fig. 2a). Alloys 1 and 2 have
SEM analyses indicate great differences on phase precipitation
almost same level of Al content (∼1%) and W addition does not
behavior at the grain boundaries in comparison of newly developed
change the fraction of   and   phases.
718 alloys with conventional alloy 718. Long needle-like ı phase is
TEM analyses indicate that strengthening phases of alloy 718 are
found at grain boundaries in conventional 718 alloy with 0.5% Al
mainly disc-like   and partially spherical   while the dominant
while short rod or granular phase in alloys 1 and 3 with 1.1% and
strengthening phase for alloy 1, 2 and 3 is associated precipitation
1.4% Al, respectively at as-heat treated condition (Fig. 5a–c).
of   and   . Fig. 4 shows that the associated precipitation of  
With the increase of aging time, fraction of the phases at the
and   characterizes with much better structure stability than that
grain boundaries in these three alloys all increases. After aging at
of separately precipitated   and   in conventional 718 alloy.
680 ◦ C for 500 h, not only ı phase at grain boundaries increases

Table 2
The chemical compositions of INCONEL 718 type alloys [wt.%]

Alloys C Ni Fe Cr W Mo Nb Ti Al S P B

718 0.01 52.71 Bal. 18.99 <0.1 3 5.52 0.98 0.55 0.003 <0.005 0.002
1 0.03 52.20 Bal. 18.94 <0.1 2.95 5.48 1.01 1.09 0.001 0.02 0.008
2 0.03 50.62 Bal. 18.72 1.49 3 5.52 0.93 0.94 0.004 0.02 0.002
3 0.03 50.56 Bal. 18.68 1.51 2.95 5.51 0.91 1.4 0.002 0.02 0.002
 S.H. Fu et al. / Materials Science and Engineering A 499 (2009) 215–220
Fig. 5. The variation of Al content on phase precipitation behavior at the grain boundaries. (a) 718 alloy; (b) alloy 1; (c) alloy 3 at as-heat treated condition; (d) 718 alloy; (e)
alloy 1; and (f) alloy 3 aging at 680 ◦ C for 500 h.
greatly but also forms in grains for conventional 718 alloy as shown
in Fig. 5d, while in alloy 1 and 2, this phase still keeps discontin-
uous precipitation in short rod or granular morphology at grain
boundaries and there is almost no obvious ı phase precipitation in
the grains (Fig. 5e). In alloy 3 with 1.4% Al, the amount and size of
granular phase at grain boundaries both increase obviously with
prolonging aging time (Fig. 5f).
Mechanical properties at 680 ◦ C such as tensile, creep and stress
rupture properties were conducted in these 718 type alloys. The
results indicate that alloy 1 characterizes with good mechanical
properties, which was published in our previous paper [10].
4. Discussion
Aluminum is the most important element for   formation
among the investigated alloying elements. Aluminum can greatly
increase   solvus temperature and its fraction. However, too high
Al will lead to  phase formation and degrade alloy structure sta-
219
bility (Fig. 3b). Therefore, the optimum Al content should be kept
at the level of 1%.
Titanium also plays an important role in INCONEL 718 to form
  strengthening phase. However, high content of Ti will lead
to  phase formation (Fig. 3c). Our former experimental results
also show that high content of Ti promote the Ni3 (Ti, Al) type  
strengthening phase to transform in long plate-like Ni3 M phase
and sometimes in a cellular precipitation even in the form of Wid-
manstatten structure in  matrix [7,9]. Therefore, titanium content
in newly developed 718 type alloy is still suggested to keep at
1%.
Experimental results indicate that Nb can substantially improve
718 type alloy’s strengths [11]. However, high content of Nb will
resulting in much more delta phase (Fig. 2b) and lose more tensile
strength. Therefore, the optimum content for Nb in 718 type alloy
is no more than 5.5%.
Some results indicate Co did not show a strong effect on ten-
sile properties but thermal stability can be improved obviously
220 S.H. Fu et al. / Materials Science and Engineering A 499 (2009) 215–220
and its addition did produce a significant improvement on stress
rupture life at 9% Co [4]. However, Thermo-Calc and JmatPro cal-
culation results both show that increasing Co levels significantly
promote harmful phases such as  and  formation. According to
thermodynamic calculation with experimental results and also in
consideration of cost standpoint we suggest that no addition of Co
is in newly developed 718 type alloy.
Based on thermodynamical and experimental results, alloy 1
with 1% Al, 1% Ti and 5.5% Nb characterizes with good combina-
tion of mechanical properties and structure stability at 680 ◦ C. It
is hopeful to be used at 680 ◦ C or higher temperatures. In view
of W addition resulting in the strong formation tendency of Laves
phase and in consideration of the shortage of Co in China, the newly
developed modified alloy 718 is suggested no addition of W and Co.
5. Conclusions
(i) The variations of Al, Ti, Nb, W and Co content have strong
influence on phase precipitation behavior in 718 type alloys.
Al has the strongest effect on   phase solvus among these ele-
ments. Titanium has a mild effect on   solvus than Al. Niobium
can substantially increase ı phase fraction and raise its solvus.
When Ti content is more than 1.0%, a certain amount of  phase
forms and when Al content is beyond 1.5%,  phase begins to
precipitate. Nb content should not be more than 5.5% because
of much more ı phase formation. W is the strong element to
promote Laves phase formation.
(ii) The variation of Al content can change the precipitation behav-
ior of   ,   and ı phase in the newly developed 718 alloys. With
the increase of Al content, the morphology of   and   can be
changed from separately precipitation to associated precipi-
tation and the later characterizes with much more structure
stability than that of the former at higher temperatures.
(iii) Based on thermodynamical and experimental results, the opti-
mum content of Al, Ti and Nb in the developed 718 type alloy
without W and Co additions has been obtained to be 1%, 1%
and 5.5%, respectively. Alloy 1 characterizes with superior high
temperature structure stability than that of the other 718 type
alloys. Therefore, it is hopeful to be used at 680 ◦ C or higher
temperatures.
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