Microstructures and stress rupture properties of pulse laser repaired Inconel 718 superalloy after different heat treatments

Long-striped Laves phases are considered to be crack sources in laser repaired Inconel 718 during stress rupture test. In order to obtain fine Laves phases, Nd:YAG pulse laser is used to fabricate Inconel 718 superalloy on a wrought Inconel 718 substrate in this study. The microstructures and stress rupture properties of pulse laser repaired Inconel 718 superalloy after DA treatment (720 °C × 8 h/furnace cooling at 50 °C/h to 620 °C × 8 h/air cooling) and 900STA treatment (900 °C × 20 min/air cooling+720 °C × 8 h/furnace cooling at 50 °C/h to 620 °C × 8 h/air cooling) are investigated by using SEM and TEM. The results shows that granular Laves phases can be obtained when pulse laser is used. The formation of granular Laves phase is related to high cooling rate (G·R) and low ratio of temperature gradient to growth rate (G/R). The critical values of G·R and G/R are 10⁴ and 10⁷, respectively. After 900STA treatment, δ phase precipitates around the granular Laves phases. But there is no δ phases existing in the DA samples. The surrounding δ phases can induce stress concentration, resulting in that the elongation of the 900STA samples is worse than that of the DA samples. However, the regions denuded in Nb element around the δ phases can delay the formation of the vacancies, which leads to that the stress rupture life of the 900STA samples is better than that of the DA samples.