Scripta Materialia, Vol. 34, No. 12, pp.

1861-1865, 19%
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INFLUENCE OF AGEING TREATMENT ON

WORK HARDENING BEHAVIOUR OF A
Ni-BASE SUPERALLOY
P.N. Singh and Vakil Singh
Center of Advanced Study, Department of Metallurgical Engineering,
Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi - 22 1 005, India
(Received April 2 1, 1995)
(Revised January 9, 1996)

Introduction

A large number of superalloys have been developed for application in gas turbine aero engines; among
these, Nimonic alloy 263 (C-263) is an important precipitation hardening nickel base superalloy, with high
creep strength and oxidation resistance, designed for stationary components like combustion chamber,
casing, liner, exhaust ducting, bearing housing and many others. These components are fabricated from
plate/sheet of this alloy. The formability and weldability of the alloy hence become important factors for
the fabrication of these components. Formability of metals and alloys is known to be strongly related to
their work hardening behaviour. However, no attention has been paid on the analysis of work hardening
behaviour of the alloy Nimonic 263.
The purpose of the present investigation is to examine the work hardening behaviour of the alloy 263,
following solution treatment at 1150°C and ageing for different periods at 800°C.

ExDerimental

The alloy Nimoric 263 was produced at Mishra Dhatu Nigam (MIDI-L-WI),Hyderabad, India, with trade
name Supemi 263 and was supplied in the form of sheet of 2.0 mm thickness. The detailed composition
of the alloy is given in Table 1. Tensile specimens with gauge section 35 x 6.5 x 1.8 mm and shoulder radii
12.7 mm were vacuum sealed in silica tube, solution treated at 1150°C (%3-C) for 2 hrs and water quench-
ed at room temperature (RT). The solution treated (ST) samples were aged separately for different periods
of 2,8, and 20 hrs at 800°C (&3”(Z),cooled in air at RT; they are designated as ST-Al, ST-A2 & ST-A3
respectively. The ageing treatment of 8 hrs at 800°C (ST-A2) is the standard ageing treatment for this
material. Small pieces of heat treated samples were mechanically polished and etched for optical micro-
scopy. The microstructure revealed equiaxed grains of mean intercept length of 80 pm and grain boundary
precipitates in the aged condition. The precipitates along the grain boundaries, in similar heat treated con-
dition, have been characterised as M,,C, carbides and fine precipitates of y’ [Ni,(Al,Ti)] have been ob-
served in the grains (1). Hardness was measured using Vickers hardness tester at an applied load of 10 Kg.
Tensile tests were conducted at RT at nominal strain rate of 1.94 x 1OAS-‘,using Instron Universal Testing
Machine.

1861
1862 WORK HARDENING Vol. 34, No. 12

TABLE 1
Chemical Composition of Alloy Supemi 263

Elements C Mn Si S Cr Ni MO Co Ti Al

(wt%) 0.073 0.425 0.136 0.0012 19.11 Base 5.86 20.004 2.27 0.41

Tensile properties like 0.2% yield stress (YS), ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and uniform plastic strain
(e,,), for the ST, ST-Al, ST-A2, and ST-A3 conditions are recorded in Table 2. The variation of the
different strength and ductility parameters with time of ageing is shown in Fig. 1. It may be seen that there
is remarkable increase in strength parameters, in particular, the yield strength, due to the ageing treatment.
The YS and UTS increase with the time of ageing, attain a peak value at 8 hrs of ageing and tend to
decrease with further increase in the time of ageing. A similar trend is observed also on the variation of
hardness with the time of ageing. However, on the other hand, there is drastic reduction in the ductility
parameters due to ageing and euPis lowered by more than 50 percent. It may be seen that ductility
parameters are heavily reduced due to ageing even for a short period and there is little influence of further
increase in the duration of ageing. It may be noted that necking strain is zero in all the aged specimens
except that aged for 2 hrs.
The true stress (CJ)and true plastic strain (e,,) plots, based on power law u = Kepn (2,3), are shown on
log-log scale in Fig. 2 for all the specimens. It may be seen that the data points do not lie on a single
straight line, but on two straight line segments, I & II, of widely different slopes, corresponding to low and
high strain regions and a curved region joined the segments I & II. It may be noted that the slope of the
curved region continuously increases with strain. Thus it is obvious that the flow behaviour of this material
can not be assessed using the simple power law equation referred to above. Hence, the work hardening
behaviour was analysed using the empirical, modified power law, u = K, e: + exp (K2+ nz E) , proposed
by Ludwigson (4), for the f.c.c. materials with low stacking fault energy, displaying log(u) vs b&E,) plots
similar to those shown in Fig. 2. The constants K, and n, in the Ludwigson equation are strength work
hardening coefficient and exponent respectively and have the same significance as K and n in the power
law equation. The term exp(KJ in the Ludwigson equation is the value of true stress, extrapolated to a true
plastic strain of zero, in the plot of log(A) vs E,; where A = exp (K, + n,E), is the difference between the
experimental value of true stress at low strains and the true stress represented by the extension of the

TABLE 2
Tensile Properties of the Alloy Supemi 263 in Solution Treated and Differently Aged Conditions

Em.
Ageing Hardness 0.2% YS U.T.S. Uniform Strain to
Time (hrs) Designation (VW WW (MPa) Plastic Strain Fracture

0 ST 202 289.20 724.70 0.6662 0.7387

2 ST-Al 306 445.60 910.43 0.3785 0.3857
8 ST-A2 314 535.20 945.50 0.3112 0.3112
20 ST-A3 304 511.25 880.40 0.3036 0.3036
Vol. 34, No. 12 WORKHARDENING 1863

-2 - 0.5 5
!k 6
- 700 - 01
v)
5 - 0.4 5
W

P
N
d -0.2 =

- 0.1

200 I I I I I 0.0
-5 0 5 10 15 20 25
Agoing Period (Hrs)

Figure 1. Variation of strength and ductility parameters with the period of ageing.

straight line segment II, in the plot of log(o) vs log(e,), to the region of low strain. One of the most impor-
tant parameters, ec, the critical strain above which the usual power law equation (U = K E;) reasonably
represents the data, was evaluated by giving the ratio, r, an arbitrary small value (r = 0.02) in the expres-

i 2ooK
lo3 lo2 10’ 10°
True Plastic Strain True Plastic Strain

True Plastic Strain True Plastic Strain

Figure 2. True stress vs true plastic strain plots, on logarithmic scales, for superni 263 in Solution treated and differently aged
conditions.
1864 WORK HARDENING Vol. 34, No. 12

TABLE 3
Flow Curve Parameters Based on Ludwigson Equation, for the Alloy Supemi 263
in ST and Differently Aged Conditions

Designation K, nl K, -n2 EC

ST 1935.53 0.7008 5.61 10.86 0.2656

ST-Al 2065.16 0.4518 5.82 22.20 0.1354
ST-A2 2080.05 0.4036 5.94 25.42 0.1206
ST-A3 1886.30 0.3910 5.93 39.97 0.0825

sion: “r = - A = exp(Ka+nzec),,, used by Ludwigson (4). the values of the parameters K,, n,, K2 and n2
K, E; K, e;
are recorded in Table 3.
Soussan et al (5) have studied the influence of nitrogen content on work hardening behaviour of nitro-
gen alloyed austenitic stainless steel, using the Ludwigson equation (4) and given physical intrepretation
of each of the parameters. While K, expresses the ability of strengthening by deformation, n, shows the
intensity of the work hardening phenomena. Similarly while Kz signifies the short-range stress inducing
the movement of first mobile dislocation, n2 expresses the rate at which the ratio between the short-range
and long-range stress decreases. The critical strain ec corresponds to the strain below which planar slip
is prevalent and above it multiple slip becomes dominant.
The variation of K, with the time of ageing is similar to that of UTS (Table 2) and may be related to
the combined resistance to motion of dislocations due to y ’ precipitates and the dislocation structure
resulting from the interaction of dislocations. There is less obvious influence of the ageing treatment on
the parameter K,. However, there is marked influence of ageing on the parameters n,, n2 and ec. The
drastic reduction in the value of n, due to the ageing treatment may be attributed to less effective resistance
to motion of dislocations resulting from the interaction of dislocations in the aged condition than in the
unaged (ST) state because of less dominance of multiple slip in the aged condition due to shearing of the
y’ precipitates. The negative exponent n,, expresses the rate of fall in the ratio, between the short-range
stresses and long-range stresses, with increase in the plastic strain. The variation of the exponent -n2, with
the time of ageing, may be understood in the terms of decrease in the short-range stresses and increase in
the long-range stresses due to increasing precipitation of y’ with the time of ageing. The cause for the
drastic reduction in the critical strain, ec, brought about due to ageing, is not clearly understood; however,
it may be related to much lower value of n, in the aged condition as compared to that in the unaged (ST)
state (Fig. 2).

Summarv

Thus it may be summarised that work hardening behaviour of the alloy superni 263 can not be analysed
using the simple power law equation. The work hardening behaviour is satisfactorily analysed using the
modified power law equation (Ludwigson equation). There is systematic variation in the different work
hardening parameters K,, n,, K2, n2 and ec with the period of ageing at 800°C. The drastic lowering of the
parameters n, and euP,from ageing even for a short duration, suggests that this material should be formed
in fully solution treated condition and any precipitation of y’ must be avoided for good formability.
Vol. 34, No. 12 WORK HARDENING 1865

AcknowledPments

The authors are thankful to Dr. M. C. Pandey, Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory (DMRL),
Hyderabad, India, for his help in supply of the material and interest in the work.

References

I. V. Ratna and D S. Sarma, Scripta Metallurgica et Materialia, Vol. 29, p. 467, 1993.
2. P. Ludwik, Elemente der Technologischen Mechanik, Springer-Verlag OHG, Berlin, p. 32, 1909
3. J. H. Hollomon, Trans. AIME, Vol. 162, p. 268, 1945.
4. D. C. Ludwigson, Metal]. Trans., Vol. 2, p. 2825, 1971.
5. A. Soussan, S. Degallaix and T. Magnin, Mater. Sci. and Eng., Vol. A142, p. 169, 1991.