Microstructure evolution and compression properties of a directionally solidified Ni-24.8%Nb hypereutectic alloy

At normal solidification conditions, in-situ composites of a Ni-24.8%Nb hypereutectic alloy can be produced at growth velocities below 5μm/s, with a thermal gradient of 180K/cm, and this low productivity remarkably restricts the application of this kind of in-situ composites. In this paper, we proposed an approach that employs an abrupt growth velocity to make the in-situ composites grow stably out of the coupled zone. In-situ composites of the Ni-24.8%Nb hypereutectic alloy were obtained at a growth velocity of 100μm/s and the productivity was greatly improved. This value is in the same order magnitude imposed on the single-crystal superalloys. The compression strengths were investigated on different microstructures involving the coupled eutectics and non-coupled eutectics. The results showed that the crack distribution and extension were mainly localized in primary Ni₃Nb dendrites in the non-coupled eutectics, and that in-situ composites with the entirely coupled eutectics have improved mechanical properties and different deformation behaviors.