Multi-scale microstructure and its synergetic strengthening effect in stress rupture life of Inconel 718 fabricated by high-deposition-rate laser directed energy deposition

Superior elevated temperature properties are critical for the application of Inconel 718 in hot-end components. The utilization of high-deposition-rate laser directed energy deposition (HDR-LDED) increases the microstructural diversity of Inconel 718, which accordingly provides more opportunities for properties improvement. Herein, Inconel 718 alloy with a multi-scale microstructure were fabricated by HDR-LDED followed by customized heat treatment. The coarser columnar grains (width ∼300 μm) were obtained with γ" phase (diameter ∼33.74 nm and volume fraction ∼15.16 %) distributed homogeneously in the grain and the fine Laves phases (length ∼3.69 μm; width ∼1.94 μm; aspect ratio ∼1.99 and volume fraction ∼1.55 %) in the inter-dendritic region. This multi-scale microstructure possesses an excellent stress rupture life of 342.9 h with the elongation of 13 % at 650 °C, which far exceeds that of the forging (106 h, 4.2 %), It is attributed to the reduced number of transverse grain boundaries, the finer Laves phase accommodating many dislocations, and γ" phase promoting the formation of stacking faults, Lomer-Cottrell locks and nanotwins. The findings demonstrate the great potential of additively manufactured microstructure in properties enhancement, and may be enlightening for the development of novel customized high-temperature alloys.