Results in Physics 6 (2016) 196–198

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Results in Physics
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Microarticle

On post-weld heat treatment cracking in tig welded superalloy ATI

718Plus
G. Asala, O.A. Ojo ⇑
University of Manitoba, Winnipeg R3T 5V6, Canada

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

Article history: The susceptibility of heat affected zone (HAZ) to cracking in Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welded Allvac
Received 14 March 2016 718Plus superalloy during post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) was studied. Contrary to the previously
Accepted 29 March 2016 reported case of low heat input electron beam welded Allvac 718Plus, where HAZ cracking occurred
Available online 2 April 2016
during PWHT, the TIG welded alloy is crack-free after PWHT, notwithstanding the presence of similar
micro-constituents that caused cracking in the low input weld. Accordingly, the formation of brittle
Keywords: HAZ intergranular micro-constituents may not be a sufficient factor to determine cracking propensity,
Superalloy
the extent of heat input during welding may be another major factor that influences HAZ cracking during
Joining
Post-weld heat treatment
PWHT of the aerospace superalloy Allvac 718Plus.
Ó 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND
license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Introduction alloy, which is crucial to the use of welding for manufacturing

The weldability and post-weld heat treatment of recently devel-
oped aerospace superalloy Allvac 718Plus alloy have gained impor-
tance since the superalloy was developed by ATI ALLVAC for high
temperature applications in aerospace, power and nuclear indus-
tries, where joining by fusion welding is crucial. Alloy 718Plus
was developed to increase the working temperature range of its
baseline superalloy, Inconel 718, from 650 to 700 °C, while main-
taining the workability of Inconel 718 [1–2]. Like 718, alloy
718Plus is considered to have potential for good weldability [3–5].
During welding, the peak temperatures reached by the weld
and Heat Affected Zones (HAZs) alter their microstructure and also
results in residual stresses after the weld has cooled and solidified.
To restore the properties of the welded alloy, PWHT comprising of
high temperature solution annealing followed by aging is normally
carried out. Cracking often occurs in the HAZ around welds in
many superalloys during this PWHT, which compromises the
integrity of the welded material. The various possible causes of
PWHT cracking in superalloys have been considered and reviewed
[6]. In a recent study [7], a crack-free weld of alloy 718Plus was
produced by electron beam welding, however, after PWHT, crack-
ing occurred in the HAZ. The PWHT cracking is largely attributed to
embrittlement of HAZ grain boundaries by Laves and d phase par-
ticles formed during the welding process. In order to study a pos-
sible approach to avoid the detrimental PWHT cracking in the
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: olanrewaju.ojo@umanitoba.ca (O.A. Ojo).
innovative complicated components, this work is focused on
studying PWHT cracking in the superalloy Allvac 718Plus after
TIG welding process. The main results are presented and discussed
in this communication.
Experimental procedure
The Allvac 718Plus superalloy used in this study was obtained
in the form of 12.6  110  127 mm hot-rolled plates. Rectangular
plates of 3  12.6  110 mm were machined from the as-received
material using a computer controlled Electrical Discharge Machine
(EDM). The oxidized surface layers on the plates were removed by
surface grinding all the faces of the plates. Bead-on-plate autoge-
nous welds were made on the prepared as-received plates by the
use of a TIG welding system integrated with a 6 DOF PANASONIC
VR-004 robot. The welding current and speed were maintained at
100A DC and 200 mm/min, respectively. Welded test specimens
with dimensions 3  3  12.6 mm were sectioned transversely to
the welding direction. The specimens were solution heat treated
at 982 °C for 1 h and then water quenched. After cooling from
the solution treatment temperature, the specimens were subjected
to recommended aging treatment (788 °C for 8hrs, cooling at
55 °C/h to 650 °C and holding at 650 °C for 8 h). The samples were
mounted and polished using the standard metallographic tech-
niques. Metallographic specimens were electro-etched using either
10% Oxalic acid at 5V for 3 s or 170 ml H3PO4 + 10 ml H2SO4 + 15 g
CrO3 at 5V for 10 s. The fusion zone microstructure and the HAZ

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rinp.2016.03.011
2211-3797/Ó 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
 G. Asala, O.A. Ojo / Results in Physics 6 (2016) 196–198 197

were examined and analyzed by the use of an optical microscope

and a JEOL 5900 Scanning Electron Microscope.

Results and discussion

The SEM micrograph of the HAZ adjacent to the fusion zone pre-
sented in Fig. 2, shows an extensive liquated region having grain
boundaries laced with resolidified c/Laves eutectic-like con-
stituents and some constitutionally liquated MC-type carbides.
This observed microstructure is similar to that reported [3,4,7] in
the HAZ of electron beam welded alloy 718Plus. The melted and
re-solidified regions in the HAZ occur due to heating above the
equilibrium solidus temperature of the alloy [9]. No evidence of
cracking was observed in the HAZ and in the fusion zone of the
alloy after welding. Optical micrograph of the HAZ of the weld after
PWHT is presented on Fig. 1 with no cracking observed. Fig. 3
shows a magnified SEM backscattered electron image of the HAZ
after standard PWHT. The micrograph reveals a needle-like d phase Fig. 2. SEM micrograph of TIG welded Allvac 718Plus HAZ in the as-weld condition
particles precipitated around the Laves phase, in addition to the showing an extensive liquated grain boundaries laced with c/Laves eutectic
particles.
constitutionally liquated MC-type carbide formed during welding.
Notwithstanding the presence of these solidification micro-
constituents that have been reported to embrittle the HAZ grain
boundaries and cause PWHT cracking in electron beam welded
alloy 718Plus [7], no crack was observed in the present study after
PWHT. This may be attributed to a possible low extent of stresses
acting on the HAZ grain boundaries during the PWHT. Previous
studies [8,10,11] have shown that the magnitude of thermally
induced residual stresses in weld HAZ increases with the steepness
of the thermal gradient involved during welding. The thermal gra-
dient experienced in the HAZ during a typical TIG welding is shal-
low [8], due to the high heat input involved, and this shallow
thermal gradient can induce lower residual stresses in the HAZ,
after welding, compared to lower heat input welds produced by
electron beam welding. A reported work on a comparative study
of temperature distribution during laser beam welding and arc
welding has shown that, using similar metal plate thickness,
experimental and theoretical calculations the temperature gradi-
ent during laser beam welding is around 1170 °C/mm while that
of arc welding is about 230 °C/mm [12]. Residual stresses have
been recognized as a key factor that could influence HAZ PWHT
cracking in superalloys [6]. Low residual stresses, due to high heat
Fig. 3. SEM backscattered electron micrograph showing a crack-free TIG welded
input, therefore, may be responsible for the preclusion of HAZ Allvac 718Plus. Also revealed in the micrograph are the micro-constituents
cracking during PWHT of TIG welds observed in the present work. (liquated MC-type carbides and the d/Laves phase particles) that reportedly caused
cracking in electron beam welds.

Conclusion
Acknowledgement
The use of appropriate welding heat input, which may reduce
the extent of residual stress generated during welding, can prevent Financial support from the NSERC of Canada is gratefully
deleterious formation of HAZ cracking during PWHT of the newly acknowledged.
developed aerospace superalloy Allvac 718Plus, as observed in
the present work.
References

Fig. 1. Optical microscope image of TIG welded alloy 718Plus showing a crack free
HAZ after post-weld heat treatment. The image is taken at a magnification of 60X.
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