Int. J. of Materials and Product Technology, Vol.

13, Nos 1/2, 1998 28

Microstructure and mechanical properties of laser

beam welded Inconel718

Akio Hirose, Kentaro Sakata and

Kojiro F. Kobayashi
Department of Manufacturing Science, Graduate School of Engineering,
Osaka University, 2-1, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan

Abstract: Inconel 718 plates were welded using a 2.5 kW C02 laser. The
effects of post-weld solution annealing on the microstructure and tensile
properties of the laser beam (LB) welds were investigated, and they were
compared with those of gas tungsten arc (GTA) welds. While interdendritic
ylLaves phase eutectic was observed in the fusion zones of both the LB welds
and the GTA welds, the size of the -$Laves phase and the dendrite arm spacing
of the former was significantly finer than that of the latter because of rapid
cooling. While the interdendritic ylLaves phase dissolved and a certain amount
of MC-type carbides remain in the weld fusion zones after solution annealing at
1353K and 1373K, the LB welded joint with the annealing at 1373K followed
by ageing treatment was fractured in the base metal and had ductility equivalent
to that of the aged base alloy. In contrast to this, since coarse and clustered
carbides remained in the GTA weld fusion zones even after annealing at
1373K, the ductility of the GTA welded joints were lower than those of the LB
welded joints.

Key words: ageing treatment, GTA welding, Inconel 718, laser beam welding,
microstructure, nickel base super alloy, solution annealing treatment, tensile
property.

Reference to this article should be made as follows: Hirose, A., Sakata, K. and
Kobayashi, K.F. (1998) 'Microstructure and mechanical properties of laser
beam welded Inconel 718,' Int. J. of Materials and Product Technology,
Vol. 13, NOS112, pp. 28-44.

1 Introduction

An age-hardenable nickel base superalloy, Inconel 718, has excellent corrosion and
oxidation resistance, and good tensile and creep properties at elevated temperatures.
Inconel 718 is strengthened by the precipitation of intermetallic phases. The major
strengthening intermetallic phases are y' ' and y" phases. Although Inconel 718 has good
weldability, the problems lie in microfissuring and the reduction of properties in the weld
metal and weld heat affected zone (HAZ) [1,2]. Laser beam (LB) welding is
characterised by its high energy density and flexibility and has obvious advantages, such
as high speed and ease of automation. In particular, its low overall heat input results in
low distortion and minimizing the weld fusion zone and HAZ. These characteristics make

Copyright O 1998 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

 Microstructure and mechanical properties of laser beam welded Inconel 718 29

LB welding attractive for welding Inconel 718 [2]. To date, however, the data on
microstructure and mechanical properties of LB welded Inconel 7 18 are still limited.
The present work was undertaken in order to clarify the microstructural
characteristics and mechanical properties of LB welds of Inconel 718. Fully penetrated
welds were performed on 3.2 mm thick Inconel 718 plates using a 2.5 kW C 0 2 laser. In
welding Inconel 718, the weldment is subjected to post-weld heat treatments, namely
solution annealing followed by ageing treatment, after welding to obtain a desirable
mechanical properties. The conditions of the solution annealing treatment after welding
will significantly affect the mechanical properties of the weldment. In this work,
therefore, the post-weld solution annealing treatments with varying annealing
temperatures followed by ageing treatment were performed and the effects of the
annealing temperatures on microstructure and tensile properties of LB welds of Inconel
718 were investigated. They were compared with those of gas tungsten arc (GTA) welds.

2 Experimental procedure

A commercial Inconel 718 whose chemical composition is listed in Table 1 was used in
this work. The material was obtained as 3.2 mm thick plate and was subjected to a
solution annealing treatment, annealed at 1243K for 3.6 ks and quenching. Table 2 shows
the process parameters of the LB welding and GTA welding performed in this work. The
parameters were decided in preliminary experiments in order to obtain fully penetrated
welds of 3.2 mm thick plates with a minimum bead width. All welds were bead-on type
welding. After welding, the samples were subjected to various solution annealing
treatments, annealed at 1243K, 1353K and 1373K for 3.6ks, followed by an ageing
treatment, aged at 993K for 28.8 ks, cooled to 894K at 0.015Ws, aged at 894K for 28.8
ks and air cooled to room temperature. Some samples were directly subjected to the
ageing treatment after welding without solution annealing. The microstructure of the
welds was observed with scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron
microscope (TEM). Values of secondary dendrite arm spacing in weld fusion zones of as-
welded samples were measured on SEM micrographs by line intercept method. Tensile
tests were performed for the LB and GTA welds using samples after welding followed by
the heat treatments with a cross head speed of 1 . 7 ~ 1 0 - ~ m mat
/ s room temperature. The
shape of the tensile specimen is shown in Figure 1.
Table 1 Chemical composition of Inconel 7 18 used.
30 A. Hirose, K. Sakata and K.F. Kobayashi

Table 2 Process parameters of laser beam welding and gas tungsten arc welding.

Laser beam welding Gas tungsten arc welding

Power 2.5kW Welding current 180A
Welding speed 33.3mmls Welding speed 3.33mmls
Defocus distance -1mm Shielding gas Ar, 1 . 7 ~ 1 0 - ~ m ~ / s
Shielding gas Ar, 1 . 7 ~ 1 0 - ~ m ~ / s

unit : mm

Figure 1 Shape of tensile specimen.

3 Results and discussion

3.1 Microstructure of weldfision zone in as-welded condition

Fully penetrated welds were successfully obtained without any cracks or microfissuring
both in the LB welding and in the GTA welding. SEM micrographs of the weld fusion
zones of as-welded samples are shown in Figures 2 and 3. The GTA weld fusion zone
had a cellular dendrite structure and Nb-rich constituents were seen in interdendritic
regions (Figures 2(a) and (b)). TEM examination as shown in Figure 4 revealed that the
constituents consisted of austenite (y)lNb-rich Laves phase eutectic and Nb-rich MC-type
carbides. This solidification structure is quite similar to that of the GTA weld fusion zone
of Inconel 718 reported by Knorovsky et al. [3]. The LB fusion zone had significantly
finer solidification structure than that of the GTA weld (Figure 3(a)). Although the Nb-
rich interdendritic constituents were also observed as shown in Figure 3(b), the size was
very fine and in TEM examination of the LB fusion zone only the ylLaves constituents
were observed in the interdendritic regions (Figure 5). The fine solidification structure of
the LB welding is caused by a rapid cooling due to its low overall heat input. It has been
known that dendrite arm spacing is related to cooling rate during solidification and
following equation has been obtained for Inconel 718 [4]:
 Microstructure and mechanical properties of laser beam welded Inconel 718 3 1

where d is the secondary dendrite arm spacing, pm, and CR is the average cooling rate
during solidification, Ws. Table 3 shows measured values of dendrite arm spacing and
calculated cooling rates for the LB and GTA welds. In the LB welding, the cooling rate
was 100 times greater than that in the GTA welding. Thus, the high energy concentration
of the LB welding results in the rapid solidification and fine solidification structure.
Table 3 Dendrite arm spacing in weld fusion zones and estimated cooling rates.

GTA welding LB welding

Dendrite arm spacing (mm) 6.0 1.3
Cooling rate (Us) 1.7 x lo2 1.7 x lo4

3.2 Effect of post-weld annealing on microstructure of weldfusion zones

Figures 6 and 7 show secondary electron images of the LB and GTA weld fusion zones
subjected to the solution annealing followed by the ageing treatment. In the fusion zones
annealed at 1243K (Figure 6(a) and Figure 7(a)), precipitates were seen in original
interdendritic regions both in the LB welds and in the GTA welds. While the
interdendritic constituents seen in Figures 2 and 3 were mostly changed to a needle-
shaped phase by the post-weld solution annealing at 1243K, it hardly dissolved in the
matrix. The interdendritic needle-shaped phase in the LB welds was identified as 6
(Ni3Nb) phase by TEM examination as shown in Figure 8. It is reasonably supposed from
the T'IT diagrams for Inconel 718 [5, 61 that the Nb-rich Laves phase is transformed to
the 6 phase during the solution annealing at 1243K for 3.6 ks. In the GTA weld fusion
zones annealed at 1243K, Laves phase and Nb-rich MC-type carbides, together with
needle-shaped 6 phase, were observed (Figure 9). Since the yllaves constituents in the
GTA welds were coarser than those in the LB welds as shown in Figures 2 and 3, a
certain amount of the Laves phase may remain after the solution annealing, although its
shape spheroidised. The MC carbides may be the ones that were originally solidified in
the as-welded fusion zone (see Figure 4). In the fusion zones annealed at 1353K and
above, while the 6 phase completely dissolved and the amount of the second phases
decreased, MC-type carbides, which were identified by TEM examination, were observed
both in the LB welds (Figures 6(b) and (c)) and in the GTA welds (Figures 7(b) and (c)).
This is because among the second phases in Inconel 718, the MC carbide has the highest
dissolution temperature above 1300K [7, 81. Thus it is possible that carbide precipitation
occurs during the annealing treatments, particularly in the LB weld fusion zones.
Although the amount of the carbides decreased with increasing annealing temperature
from 1353K to 1373K both in the LB welds and in the GTA welds, the carbide size and
distribution in the former was significantly different from that in the latter. Namely, the
carbides in the GTA welds were coarse and clustered whereas those in the LB welds were
fine and uniformly distributed. The clustered regions of the carbides in the GTA welds
may correspond to the original interdendritic regions.
32 A. Hirose, K.Sakata and K.F. Kobayashi

position A position B
1

Figure 2 SEM Micrographs of the weld fusion zone of GTA welding in as-welded condition:
(a) general view, (b) detailed microstructure (A and B showing EDX analysed positions) and
(c) corresponding EDX spectra of (b).
 Microstructure and mechanical properties of laser beam welded Inconel 718 33

position A position B I

Figure 3 SEM Micrographs of the weld fusion zone of LB welding: (a) general view, (b) detailed
microstructure (A and B showing EDX analysed positions) and
(c) corresponding EDX spectra of (b).
 .uo!l!puo3 pappm-se u! %u!pram
V J jo~ auoz uo!snj ppm aql u! ap!qse:, pue aseqd saAq Bu!moqs q d ~ ~ 8 0 1 3mp x P a-l&!d
36 A. Hirose, K. Sakata and K.F. Kobayashi

Figure 7 SEM micrographs of GTA weld the fusion zones with annealing treatments at (a) 1243k,
(b) 1353K and (c) 1373K followed by ageing treatment.
 Microstructure and mechanical properties of laser beam welded Inconel 718 37

Figure 8 TEM micrographs of 6 phase observed in the LB weld fusion zone with the annealing
treatment at 1243K followed by the ageing treatment: (a) bright field image, (b) corresponding
diffraction pattern, and (c) key diagram of (b).
38 A. Hirose, K. Sakata and K.F. Kobayashi

Figure 9 TEM micrographs of the GTA weld fusion zone with the annealing treatment at 1243K
followed by the ageing treatment showing (a) 8 phase, (b) Laves phase together with 8 phase and
(c) MC-type carbide together with 8 phase.

3.3 Tensile properties o f welded joint

T h e tensile properties of the welded joints were summarised in Figures 10 and 11. T h e
LB welded joint after the ageing treatment without preceding solution annealing had the
 Microstructure and mechanical properties of laser beam welded Inconel718 39

tensile strength and proof strength almost equivalent to those of the aged base alloy
(Figure 10). However, the joint was fractured in the weld fusion zone and its ductility
was considerably lower than that of the aged base alloy (Figure 11). It has been reported
that interdendritic Laves phase in weld fusion zone serves as microvoid nucleation sites
[9, 101. As shown in Figure 12(a), the fracture occurred by microvoid coalescence, which
was initiated by interdendritic constituents. This causes the fracture in the weld fusion
zone and low ductility of the welded joint. Solution annealing at 1243K had no
significant effects on tensile properties of the LB weld joint (Figures 10 and 11). In
particular, ductility of the welded joint was not improved by this annealing treatment.
This is caused by the interdendritic second phases hardly dissolving in the matrix after
the annealing treatment at 1243K (see Figure 6(a)), which act as microvoid nucleation

.
sites in the same manner as the '$Laves phase constituents in the welded joint without
solution annealing. Thus, the welded joint with the annealing treatment at 1243K was
fractured in the weld fusion zone and the fracture surface shown in Figure 12(b) is similar
to that shown in Figure 12(a). As the annealing temperatures increased, the ductility of
the welded joints was significantly improved, whereas their tensile and proof strengths
somewhat decreased. While the LB welded joint annealed at 1353K was fractured at
fusion boundary, that annealed at 1373K was fractured in the base metal region and had
the ductility equivalent to that of the aged base alloy. The reduction in the strengths at
these annealing temperatures may be attributed to grain growth caused by high
temperature annealing. The fracture surfaces of these joints exhibited ductile dimple
pattern as shown in Figure 12(c) and (d). Large dimples seen in these fracture surface are
initiated by a second phase, which is probably MC carbides, in the base metal. As a
result, solution annealing at a temperature above 1353K is required for the LB welds to
obtain the ductility equivalent to that of the aged base alloy.

Laser welding (tensile strength)

0 GTA welding (tensile strength)
Laser weldlng (0.2% proof strength)
GTA welding (0.2% proof strength)

.(.tensile
. . . . strength)
............................
1400

2 1300 -
0

1100 -
CI
: Fractured in base metal
1000 1 I I I 1
solution
annealing
1250 1300 1350 1400

Solution annealing temperature (K)

Figure 10 Tensile strengths and 0.2% proof strengths of the LB welded joints and the GTA welded
joints plotted against post-weld annealing temperature.
 40 A. Hirose, K. Sakata and K. F. Kobayashi

- - Aged bat- -..-

Laser welding

I * : Fractured in base metal / n

Without solution
annealing
1250 1300 1350 1400
Solution ammealing temperature (K)
Figure 11 Elongation of the LB welded joints and the GTA welded joints plotted against post-weld
annealing temperature.
In the GTA welds, the welded joint after the ageing treatment without preceding
solution annealing had lower tensile and proof strengths than those of the LB welded
joint by 100 to 120MPa (see Figure 10). The strengths of the GTA welded joints annealed
at 1243K and 1373K were somewhat lower than those of the LB welded joints. The
-- - - -- -
ductility of the GTA welded joints was considerably lower than that of the LB welded
joints by approximately 7% regardless of the solution annealing conditions and the GTA
welded joint annealed at 1373K was fractured in the weld fusion zone unlike the LB
welded joint. The fracture surfaces of the GTA welded joints were shown in Figure 13.
When comparing Figure 13(a) with Figure 12(a), the dimple size in the GTA weld was
apparently larger than that in the LB weld. The dimple sizes in the fracture surfaces are
related to the sizes of the interdendritic constituents. In the GTA weld fusion zone with
coarse interdendritic constituents, microvoids easily initiate by the constituents. This
causes larger dimples and results in lower strengths and ductility of the GTA weld joint.
Since relatively coarse and clustered carbides remained in the GTA weld fusion zone
even after the annealing treatment at 1373K, the carbides predominantly initiate
microvoid and thereby cause the fracture in the weld fusion zone with low ductility. In
contrast to this, since fine and uniformly distributed carbides in the LB weld fusion zone
after the annealing treatment at 1373K do not act as initiate sites of microvoid
coalescence, the fracture occurs in the base metal. As a result, finer solidification
microstructure of the LB weld fusion zones due to rapid cooling is found to cause better
tensile properties of the LB welded joints in comparison with the GTA welded joints.
 Microstructure and mechanical properties of laser beam welded Inconel 718 41

Figure 12 Fracture surfaces of the LB welded joints (a) without annealing treatment, and with
annealing treatments at (b) 1243K. (c) 1353K and (d) 1373K followed by ageing treatment.
 Microstructure and mechanical properties of laser beam welded Inconel 718 43

properties of the welded joints were measured and they were compared with those of gas
tungsten arc (GTA) welds. The results obtained in this work are summarised as follows:
1 In as-welded condition, the size of interdendritic y/Laves phase eutectic in the LB
weld fusion zone was significantly finer than that of the GTA weld fusion zone.
The dendrite arm spacing of the former was also finer than that of the latter because
of rapid cooling. The cooling rate in the LB welding, which was estimated from the
dendrite arm spacing, was 100 times greater than that in the GTA welding.
2 While the interdendritic y/Laves phase constituents were mostly changed to needle-
shaped 6 (Ni3Nb) phase by the post-weld solution annealing at 1243K in the fusion
zones of both the LB welds and the GTA welds, it hardly dissolved in the matrix.
The 6 phase completely dissolved and only MC-type carbides were observed in the
weld fusion zones after both annealing treatments at 1353K and 1373K. The carbides
in the GTA welds were coarse and clustered, whereas those in the LB welds were
fine and uniformly distributed.
3 The LB welded joint after the ageing treatment without preceding solution annealing
was fractured in the weld fusion zone and its ductility was considerably lower than
that of the aged base alloy, although it had the tensile strength and proof strength
almost equivalent to those of the aged base alloy. As the annealing temperatures
increased from 1243K to 1373K, ductility of the LB welded joints increased. The LB
welded joint with annealing at 1373K followed by the ageing treatment was
fractured in the base metal and had equivalent ductility to that of the aged base alloy.
4 The ductility of the GTA welded joints were considerably lower than that of the LB
welded joints. The GTA welded joint with annealing at 1373K followed by the
ageing treatment was not fractured in the base metal unlike the LB welded joint. This
is caused by the coarse and clustered carbides remaining in the GTA weld fusion
zone, which serves as predominant microvoid nucleation sites.

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44 A. Hirose, K. Sakata and K. F. Kobayashi

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