Acta Materialia 50 (2002) 1869–1879

www.actamat-journals.com

Hot tearing of nickel-based superalloys during directional

solidification
J. Zhang ∗, R.F. Singer
Department of Materials Science, University of Erlangen–Nürnberg, Martensstrasse 5, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany

Received 10 April 2001; received in revised form 21 December 2001; accepted 12 January 2002

Abstract

The propensity to form cracks during directional solidification was studied in two Ni-based superalloys, CM247LC
and IN792 (with varying Ti and Hf contents). Quenching experiments were employed to freeze in the amount of
remaining liquid during different stages in solidification. It was found that alloys with a strong tendency to hot tearing —
and, therefore, bad castability — display a strong change in volume fraction of remaining liquid with temperature at
the final stages of solidification. A simple mathematical model shows that a strong change in the fraction of liquid
results in high strains and strain rates during solidification, and this leads to crack formation and bad castability. The
castability of IN792 can be improved significantly, and even be brought to CM247 levels, by control of Hf and Ti, as
these elements affect the change of liquid fraction during the final stages of solidification.  2002 Acta Materialia Inc.
Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Nickel alloys; Casting; Hot tearing

1. Introduction processing in certain alloys. The well known,

Directional solidification (DS) of Ni-based
superalloys to columnar grain structures has been
industrial practice for decades. Numerous ben-
eficial effects were demonstrated due to the elimin-
ation of grain boundaries and the introduction of a
preferred grain orientation by DS casting [1].
Unfortunately, the insufficient resistance against
grain boundary cracking during solidification in
some superalloys prevented the application of DS
∗
Corresponding author. Tel.: +49-9131-8527516; fax: +49-
9131-8527515.
E-mail address: jian.zhang@ww.uni-erlangen.de (J.
Zhang).
highly corrosion-resistant superalloy IN792 is
among this group [2,3]. It was confirmed by pre-
vious work that the poor castability of IN792 is
due to hot tearing, i.e. crack formation in the final
stages of solidification [3]. The most common sol-
ution for the problem of hot tearing is compo-
sitional modification by addition of Hf [1,3,4].
However, a number of detrimental effects were
found when Hf was added: (1) Hf is a reactive
element that may cause reactions with the mold
and formation of brittle Hf-containing inclusions;
and (2) Hf lowers the incipient melting point and
thus the solutionizing temperature, which limits the
possibility to homogenize the alloy and to dissolve
coarse γ⬘-precipitates. Consequently, DS alloys

1359-6454/02/$22.00  2002 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 1 3 5 9 - 6 4 5 4 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 0 4 2 - 3
1870 J. Zhang, R.F. Singer / Acta Materialia 50 (2002) 1869–1879
containing Hf show little or no strength advantage
at all compared with the same alloy without Hf
modification in the equiaxed condition. It is of
particular interest, therefore, to study the mech-
anism of hot tearing and to try to improve hot tear-
ing resistance of superalloys without additions of
Hf [3,5,6].
The phenomenon of hot tearing of metals was
reviewed in detail by Sigworth [7]. Modeling work
has been carried out that took into account surface
tension effects [8] or the combination of solid
deformation and interdendritic melt flow in the
two-phase mushy zone [9–11]. However, little
attention has been paid so far to the multi-compo-
nent systems, for example, superalloys. Neverthe-
less, it is obvious that a clear picture of the micro-
structural evolution during solidification is
essential and the characterization of the mushy
zone is critical. Much work was therefore focused
on the mechanical behavior of the alloys in the
mushy zone, and it was tried to evaluate the crack-
ing susceptibility of the alloys in this particular
condition [12–15]. The cracking behavior was
studied either by casting specially designed speci-
mens where defined stresses are produced [13,14]
or by more standard mechanical testing methods
[3,15].
There is still certain confusion about the exact
mechanism of hot tearing although this topic has
been studied extensively. It is generally believed
that a small freezing range that gives a small
mushy zone results in good castability [16]. Based
on this principle, researchers strive for smaller
freezing ranges when trying to reduce hot tearing
during DS casting of superalloys. There is also a
general agreement that hot tearing occurs during
the later stages of solidification when the freezing
metal contains only a small fraction of remaining
liquid [10,11], although a different liquid fraction
for the vulnerable period is assumed by different
authors [17–19]. For example, Pellini and co-work-
ers [18] concluded that the critical liquid fraction is
approximately 10%, while Clyne and Davies [19]
defined the critical region as the liquid fraction
ranging from 10% to 1%. It is also quite obvious
that the size of the freezing range cannot be the
only material property governing hot tearing sus-
ceptibility. Some alloys show similar freezing
behavior but quite different hot tearing resistance,
such as IN792 and CM247 [3].
It is obvious that the most direct way to get
insight into the hot tearing problem is by examin-
ation of the microstructural evolution of superal-
loys in the freezing range, or rather the critical
region of the freezing range. Unfortunately, very
limited information concerning the alloy IN792,
which is of large commercial interest at the
moment, can be found at present. Hot cracking and
microstructural characterization of another superal-
loy, IN718, was conducted at a rather detailed level
in previous work [20–23]. Wills and McCartney
[24] also studied the microstructural evolution and
micro-segregation during solidification of several
other Ni-based superalloys. However, the different
composition of these alloys makes it difficult to
draw conclusions when considering hot tearing
of IN792.
The present paper studied two types of Ni-based
superalloy, IN792 (with varying Ti content, and
with and without Hf addition) and CM247LC. The
microstructure at the end of the freezing range was
investigated by quenching from various test tem-
peratures and subsequent optical metallographic
examination [5,25]. Hot tearing susceptibility was
tested by DS casting of tube-like samples, a test
that has been developed and described previously
[3]. CM247 and IN792Hf were chosen as reference
materials because of their good castability. By
comparing the liquid fraction at different stages
during solidification of the alloys, guidance for
compositional modification of DS IN792 without
Hf addition was found and improvement in the
castability of the alloy could be achieved. A gen-
eral principle for improvement of the castability of
Ni-based superalloys is also suggested.
2. Experiments
2.1. Materials
The compositions of the alloys used are listed
in Table 1. (All data are given in wt%.) Among
them, IN792Ti2, IN792Ti3, IN792Ti4.5 and
IN792Hf were prepared in-house from the pure
elements (99.99%) in a vacuum arc furnace. The
 J. Zhang, R.F. Singer / Acta Materialia 50 (2002) 1869–1879 1871

Table 1
Compositions (wt%) of alloys used in the present experiments

Alloy Cr Co Mo W Al Ti Ta B Zr C Hf Ni

IN792 12.4 9.2 1.9 3.9 3.5 3.9 4.2 0.016 0.018 0.07 -- Bal.
IN792Ti2 12.4 9.2 1.9 3.9 3.5 2.0 4.2 0.016 0.018 0.07 -- Bal.
IN792Ti3 12.4 9.2 1.9 3.9 3.5 3.0 4.2 0.016 0.018 0.07 -- Bal.
IN792Ti4.5 12.4 9.2 1.9 3.9 3.5 4.5 4.2 0.016 0.018 0.07 -- Bal.
IN792Hf 11.9 9.0 1.9 3.8 3.5 4.0 3.9 0.012 0.09 0.12 2.0 Bal.
CM247 8.0 9.4 0.5 9.5 5.7 0.7 3.2 0.017 0.018 0.07 1.5 Bal.

other alloys were received from commercial ven-
dors. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC;
Netzsch mode STA 409C) was employed to deter-
mine the critical temperature of phase formation
during solidification. A cooling rate of 5 °C/min
was employed in all measurements. The tempera-
tures of phase formation were then used to select
the quenching temperatures.
2.2. Microstructural evolution
The samples were quenched from different tem-
peratures between the temperature of carbide for-
mation and the solidus. The experimental set-up of
the quenching experiments is shown schematically
in Fig. 1. Alloys were cut into small cubic samples
about 3 g in weight and put into a ceramic crucible
for melting and quenching experiments. Three
thermocouples were arranged in the furnace and
one thermocouple was set inside the crucible near
the test sample. Fig. 2 gives a schematic illustration
of the heating and cooling cycle. All samples were
heated to 苲1430 °C and kept for 5 min to achieve
complete melting. Then the furnace temperature
setting was lowered to allow the temperature of the
2.3. Castability tests
Some selected alloys with Ti contents different
from the standard IN792 were used to perform the
castability tests. The alloys were cast in alumina
molds by a withdrawal method, described earlier
[3]. The alumina mold was designed to consist of
an inner tube serving as a core and an outer tube
serving as an outer shell, thus giving a tube-like
superalloy casting with a wall thickness of 2.5 mm
and with a length of 苲140 mm. The stresses
developed in the present castability test are rather
severe compared with those in an actual casting,
because the alumina core does not yield at all. The
alloys were heated to 1520 °C and kept for 2 min
before they were poured into the preheated mold
(mold temperature: 1500 °C). A withdrawal speed
of 3 mm/min was used in all tests apart from two
particular DS castings of IN792Ti2, where a with-
drawal speed of 10 mm/min was employed. All of
the DS processing parameters are set to meet
industrial standards. The castability of the alloys
was evaluated by measuring a “crack ratio”
obtained from evaluation of the length and width
of the cracks. The crack ratio r was then defined as:
冘
n

alloy to reach the desired temperature, Ttest, for the r⫽ liwi / LC, (1)
quenching experiment. Cooling of the furnace was i⫽1

carefully controlled to ensure that the temperature
of the thermocouple inside the crucible fluctuated
only within ±1 °C when the temperature reached
the desired value. Samples were held at the preset
temperature for 10 min before being quenched into
cold water. Argon protection was used throughout
the experiments.
where n is the number of the cracks, li and wi are
the length and maximum width of a crack, respect-
ively, and L is the length of the casting tube, C the
outer circumference of the tube. This crack ratio is
believed to give a more quantitative description of
the castability of alloys than other rating
methods [3,26].
1872 J. Zhang, R.F. Singer / Acta Materialia 50 (2002) 1869–1879
Fig. 1. Schematic illustration of the experimental set-up used
for quenching experiments to determine the fraction of liquid
phase present in the alloy at different temperatures. The speci-
men is held in the furnace until equilibrium is reached. Sub-
sequently the ceramic tube holding the sample (the crucible) is
pushed downward rapidly to transfer the sample into the water
bath. Ceramic fiber material serves to plug the hole at the bot-
tom of the furnace during heating. It is pushed into the water
during quenching. Two holes with a diameter of 4 mm are
drilled near the bottom of the crucible to allow water to enter
the crucible and get into contact with the alloy during quench-
ing.
2.4. Sample examination
Quenched samples were polished and examined
by optical microscopy and scanning electron
microscopy (SEM; Philips XL30). The volume
fractions of liquid in samples were measured by
using an image analysis system with the software
OPTIMAS 6.2. Liquid composition at certain tem-
peratures was additionally examined using an
energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) accessory
of the scanning electron microscope. The surface
of hot tearing cracks from tube castings was stud-
ied by SEM.
3. Results
3.1. Microstructural evolution
The cooling curves from DSC analysis of IN792
and CM247 are compared in Fig. 3. Both curves
show the three main phase transformations during
solidification, namely (1) solidification of γ phase
(corresponding to the start of freezing or the
liquidus), (2) formation of carbides and (3) final
γ/γ⬘ reaction (corresponding to the end of freezing
or the solidus).1 More detailed results from DSC
measurements are listed in Table 2. A surprising
result is that the formation temperature of the γ
phase increased significantly when the Ti content
was lowered to 2 wt% (in IN792Ti2; the carbide
formation and γ/γ⬘ reaction peaks are too weak to
be detected in this alloy).
Some examples of microstructures for IN792
and CM247 are compared in Fig. 4. In IN792,
blocky carbides, apparently formed at high tem-
perature, emerged when the sample was quenched
from 1302 °C, Fig. 4(a). It is also clearly shown
in Fig. 4(a) that a liquid network was present in the
interdendritic areas at this temperature. The IN792
sample quenched from 1252 °C [Fig. 4(b)] shows
an interesting change compared with Fig. 4(a). Iso-
lated liquid pools rather than continuous networks
can be observed at this lower temperature, which
indicates that the change of liquid volume fraction
in IN792 is quite significant. In alloy CM247, one
can observe that the liquid also exhibits a network
1
The final γ/γ⬘ reaction is also often referred to in the super-
alloy literature as the eutectic reaction. More detailed charac-
terization of this reaction will be given elsewhere [27].
 J. Zhang, R.F. Singer / Acta Materialia 50 (2002) 1869–1879 1873

Fig. 2. Schematic illustration showing the heating and cooling procedure employed during the quenching experiments. The material
is first heated to 1430 °C to melt it completely. It is then cooled to the temperature Ttest where the liquid fraction is to be determined.

Fig. 3. DSC results for superalloys IN792 and CM247 during cooling from 1430 °C (cooling rate 5 °C/min). Tγ, TC and Tγ/γ⬘ is the
temperature where γ phase, carbides and γ/γ⬘, respectively, begins to form in each alloy.

Table 2
Critical temperatures (°C) measured from DSC analysis in different alloys at 5 °C/min during cooling

Alloy Tγ TC Tγ/γ⬘ ⌬T ⌬TCTR

IN792 1339 1315 1245 94 70

IN792Ti2 1386 -- -- -- --
IN792Ti3 1323 1305 1251 72 54
IN792Ti4.5 1338 1302 1250 88 52
IN792Hf 1340 1314 1245 95 69
CM247 1384 1342 1268 116 74

Tγ, TC and Tγ/γ⬘ is the temperature where γ, carbide and γ/γ⬘ begins to form, respectively. Tγ corresponds to the liquidus temperature
of the alloy, Tγ/γ⬘ to the solidus temperature. ⌬T, equal to Tγ minus Tγ/γ⬘ or Tliqidus minus Tsolidus, is the total freezing range. ⌬TCTR,
equal to TC minus Tγ/γ⬘ or TC minus Tsolidus, is the critical temperature range. The meaning of ⌬TCTR as well as its definition in the
present paper are discussed in Section 4.
1874 J. Zhang, R.F. Singer / Acta Materialia 50 (2002) 1869–1879

Fig. 4. Optical micrographs comparing the alloys IN792 [(a), (b)] and CM247 [(c), (d)] that were quenched from various tempera-
tures. The remaining liquid at test temperature is clearly visible due to its darker color. The micrographs (a) and (c) were taken at
ca. 15 °C below the respective carbide formation temperature of the two alloys; micrographs (b) and (d) at 7 °C above the respective
γ/γ⬘ formation temperature. It is apparent that the fraction of remaining liquid changes much more strongly in IN792 than in CM247
in the corresponding temperature region. IN792 is an alloy with a castability inferior to that of CM247.

morphology at a quenching temperature 15 °C
below the temperature of carbide formation, Fig.
4(c). However, the liquid film at most grain bound-
aries is thinner compared with that in the micro-
structure of IN792 at the same stage. When the
temperature drops to 1275 °C, the liquid in CM247
still remains a network, although the network is no
longer well connected due to the occasional contact
of dendrite arms [Fig. 4(d)].
The liquid volume fractions at different tempera-
tures of the alloys are compared quantitatively in
Fig. 5(a) and (b). The approximate slope for each
curve is also indicated in the diagram. In the inter-
val from carbide formation to γ/γ⬘ reaction (ca. 60
°C for all alloys investigated), the liquid volume
fraction of the alloys IN792 and IN792Ti4.5,
which have bad castability, changed much more
than that of the other three alloys studied, CM247,
IN792Hf and IN792Ti2, which have good cast-
ability. [The alloy IN792Ti2 displays a slope of
zero in Fig. 5(b). As mentioned above, we were
unable to measure TC and Tγ/γ⬘ in this alloy, i.e.
we assume that the alloy was almost completely
solidified in the temperature range investigated in
Fig. 5(b). The data are therefore not relevant for
the conclusions below and were not included in
Fig. 10 in Section 4.
It is not clear from our results whether the absol-
ute level of volume fraction of the remaining liquid
before final γ/γ⬘ formation does also have an effect
on castability. IN792 and IN792Ti4.5, which have
bad castability, exhibit a similar fraction of remain-
 J. Zhang, R.F. Singer / Acta Materialia 50 (2002) 1869–1879
Fig. 5. Fraction of remaining liquid in various alloys as a
function of temperature. The temperature interval investigated
for each alloy ranges from its carbide formation temperature to
the γ/γ⬘ formation temperature. Alloys with bad castability are
shown in (a), and alloys with good castability are shown in
(b). The slope of the curves for alloys with good castability is
clearly smaller.
ing liquid before final γ/γ⬘ formation as CM247 and
IN792Hf, which have good castability. This parti-
cular fraction of remaining liquid ranges from 2 to
5% in all four alloys.
The composition of the remaining liquid in
IN792 at different temperatures according to EDX
examination is shown in Fig. 6. Ti, Ta and Cr are
highly segregated and partitioned to the liquid
when compared with their nominal concentration.
Al, on the other hand, is partitioned to the solid.
The latter fact may be surprising in the light of
what is to be expected based on the binary and
ternary phase diagrams. It does correspond, how-
1875
Fig. 6. Concentration of the alloying elements in the quenched
liquid at different temperatures in IN792. The concentration is
normalized with respect to the nominal alloy composition. Ti,
Ta and Cr show severe segregation in the sense that their con-
centration C is much higher than their nominal concetration C0.
ever, to findings by other authors in complex
superalloys, where the data indicate a value of
C/C0 close to 1 or lower [28,29].
3.2. Castability tests
The results of the castability tests are summar-
ized in Fig. 7. Castability data of alloys IN792Hf
and CM247 from previous work are also included
in Fig. 7 [3]. The effect of Ti content in IN792 is
quite dramatic. Castings without any crack or with
only tiny cracks near the chill end were obtained
when the Ti content was dropped to 2 wt% com-
pared with the original 3.9 wt% in IN792. How-
ever, cracks reappeared as Ti content was increased
to 3 wt%. Little difference was observed between
the 3 wt% Ti alloy and alloy IN792 with 3.9 wt%.
A further increase in Ti content to 4.5 wt% resulted
in even more severe cracks than in IN792. As
shown above, Ti is strongly partitioned to the
liquid and affects the solidification behavior very
much.
The typical fracture surface from a castability
test is shown in Fig. 8. It can be observed clearly
that the crack formed along the interdendritic areas.
No cleavage planes are typical for crack formation
in the solid that appears [3]. We therefore conclude
that there was a more or less continuous film of
remaining liquid present on the dendrite surface
when the crack formed.
1876 J. Zhang, R.F. Singer / Acta Materialia 50 (2002) 1869–1879

Fig. 7. Results of the castability tests for various alloys (see Table 1). Higher crack ratios correspond to more severely cracked
samples (see text), i.e. inferior castability. The withdrawal speed during directional solidification in the castability test is also indicated.
If the Ti content is increased from 2 wt% (IN792Ti2) to 3.9 wt% (IN792) or 4.5 wt% (IN792Ti4.5), castability is lowered.

situation will occur when the secondary dendrite

Fig. 8. Typical fracture surface in a casting of directionally
solidified IN792 superalloy. Note the rounded appearance corre-
sponding to dendrite arm surfaces and the complete lack of
cleavage planes. This is interpreted as cracking at a temperature
where the dendrite arms were still covered by a more or less
continuous film of liquid rather than cracking in a completely
solid state.
4. Discussion
4.1. Critical temperature range (⌬TCTR) for hot
tearing
The critical temperature range (⌬TCTR) for hot
tearing to occur corresponds to the lower end of
the freezing range, where the solid fraction is high
enough to prevent feeding and to allow the devel-
opment of stresses. In microstructural terms, this
arms begin to contact each other and bonds begin
to form between them.
The upper end of ⌬TCTR, Th, can be determined
by Gleeble testing [3]. A cylindrical test specimen
with threaded ends is loaded with a special spring
mechanism that allows the application of very
small forces (10 to 30 N). The specimen is gradu-
ally heated to a temperature above the solidus. The
small force eventually causes the specimen to frac-
ture and the temperature at fracture is recorded.
Heck et al. [3] determined Th as 1319 °C for equi-
axed and 1322 °C for directionally solidified
CM247, and 1273 °C for equiaxed and 1291 °C
for directionally solidified IN792, respectively.
One can see from Fig. 3 and Table 2 that these
temperatures are close to, but somewhat below, the
formation temperatures of carbides in both alloys.
Since no Gleeble testing was carried out in the
present investigation, we will take TC, the forma-
tion temperature of carbide, as an indication for Th
below. It is interesting to note that Th corresponds
to a liquid fraction of ~10–12% in IN792 as shown
in Fig. 5(a). [The assumption that the upper end
of the critical temperature range Th is equal to the
temperature of carbide formation TC may appear
somewhat arbitrary. We like to point out that any
definition where Th corresponds to a certain per-
centage of ⌬T would have given the same result.
TC in our case corresponds to approximately 70%
of ⌬T: (TC⫺Tsolidus) / ⌬T⬵0.7.]
 J. Zhang, R.F. Singer / Acta Materialia 50 (2002) 1869–1879 1877

The lower end of ⌬TCTR, Tl, is more difficult to

define. As the inspection of the fracture surfaces
showed that the cracks were formed close to, but
somewhat above the solidus (Fig. 8), we will
assume Tl⬵Tγ/γ⬘ in the following discussion.
It is usually assumed that bad castability is asso-
ciated with a large ⌬TCTR. This is because a large
⌬TCTR implies a large volume of material and a
long time interval where cracks may occur:
⌬TCTR ⌬TCTR
⌬l ⫽ , ⌬t ⫽ (2)
G Ṫ
where ⌬l and ⌬t are the length and the time where
hot tears may form during directional solidifi-
cation, respectively, and G is the temperature
gradient, Ṫ the solidification rate. As Table 2 Fig. 9. Schematic illustration of a unit volume of material dur-
shows, however, the bad castability of the alloys ing solidification used for derivation of Eqs. (3)–(6). The liquid
IN792 and IN792Ti4.5 cannot be explained by a with a fraction fl(T) is assumed to distribute homogeneously
between the solid alloy. z is the direction of solidification.
large ⌬TCTR. This conclusion does not change if
we take ⌬T, the total freezing range, as a measure
for the critical temperature range rather than where as is the thermal expansion coefficient of the
⌬TCTR, as defined above. solid alloy, which is assumed here to be constant as
T changes. When feeding is impossible, the strain
4.2. Hot tearing mechanism
el resulting from the solidification and thermal con-
The present results indicate that another effect traction of liquid can be written as (here again, el
exists that can influence the hot tearing tendency refers only to the linear strain along the x direction
of an alloy during DS processing. As Fig. 5 shows, in Fig. 9):

the alloys with bad castability display a stronger
change of liquid volume fraction with temperature,
df/dT, within ⌬TCTR.
The parameter df/dT is very important because
it determines the strain and the strain rate that
result during solidification.
Hot tearing occurs in a material whenever the
strain caused by shrinkage during solidification
cannot be accommodated by elastic and plastic
deformation of the alloy. In the ⌬TCTR discussed
above, thermal contraction and solidification
shrinkage take place simultaneously as temperature
drops. Take Fig. 9 as an example, where the liquid
冕 冕
el ⫽ b1/3 dfl(T) ⫹ al fl(T)dT, (4)
where b is the volume shrinkage coefficient of the
liquid during solidification, and al is the thermal
expansion coefficient of liquid that again is
assumed to be constant. Provided the thermal
expansion coefficients as and al are equal, the total
strain e can be written as:
冕
e ⫽ es ⫹ el ⫽ a dT ⫹ b1/3 dfl(T). 冕 (5)

film with a volume fraction of fl(T) at temperature
T is assumed to distribute homogeneously between
the solidified sections. Then, the strain in the solid
alloy es due to thermal contraction along the x
direction can be expressed as:
冕
es ⫽ as [1⫺fl(T)]dT, (3)
The total strain within ⌬TCTR can then be obtained
by integration of Eq. (5):
e ⫽ a(Th⫺Tl) ⫹ b1/3[fl(Th)⫺fl(Tl)], (6)
where Th and Tl are the boundary temperatures
of ⌬TCTR.
Assuming Th and Tl to be equal to the tempera-
tures TC and Tγ/γ⬘, respectively, the total strain
1878 J. Zhang, R.F. Singer / Acta Materialia 50 (2002) 1869–1879
within ⌬TCTR for the tested alloys can be calculated
based on the experimental results and Eq. (6). The
thermal expansion coefficient a⬵2 × 10⫺5 K⫺1
and the volume shrinkage coefficient b⬵5.1% are
taken from the literature [30,17]. The measured
crack ratio of different DS superalloys as a func-
tion of the calculated e is shown in Fig. 10.
It is clearly seen from Fig. 10 that the alloys
IN792, IN792Ti3 and IN792Ti4.5, with a higher
df/dT in ⌬TCTR, are subjected to larger strains than
the alloys CM247 and IN792Hf. This leads to a
high crack ratio, i.e. bad castability. The reason
why large strains can lead to cracking is rather
obvious. The strains in Fig. 10 are much larger
than what the material can accommodate by elastic
deformation. Consequently, strains will result in
flow of the liquid or plastic deformation of the
solid, which may induce the formation of hot tears.
It should be noted that larger strains for a spe-
cific alloy also imply larger strain rates in the
present case. This is because ⌬t according to Eq.
(2) is about the same for the alloys under investi-
gation. High strain rates may lead to bad castability
for two reasons: (1) there is less time for feeding
and (2) there is less time for stress relaxation to
occur.
In summary, the present study shows that alloys
with bad castability suffer from both a higher strain
and a higher strain rate during the later stages of
Fig. 10. Measured crack ratio r as a function of calculated
total strain e in different DS alloys. Crack ratio r and total
strains e are obtained from the equations indicated on the dia-
gram.
solidification due to a stronger change in liquid
fraction in ⌬TCTR.
4.3. Compositional modification of IN792
Based on the results discussed above it seems
that, in order to improve the castability of Ni-based
superalloys by compositional modification, the
content of elements that affect df/dT in ⌬TCTR must
be controlled. Hf and Ti seem to be such elements.
Both elements strongly segregate to the melt. It
could be that segregation of an element to the melt
is a first indication to what their effect on solidifi-
cation behavior might be. Future work, therefore,
will focus on the effects of Ta and Cr, which have
been found in this paper to partition to the melt,
too.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Deutsche
Forschungsgemeinschaft for financial support.
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