Effects of CoAl2O4 inoculants on microstructure and mechanical properties of IN718 processed by selective laser melting

This work investigated the effects of CoAl2O4 inoculants on the microstructure and mechanical properties of a superalloy - Inconel 718 (IN718), processed by selective laser melting (SLM). IN718 powder was blended with 0.2 wt. % of CoAl2O4 particles. After the SLM process, the CoAl2O4 particles reacted with IN718 and formed a dispersion of Al-rich nano-oxide particles in the matrix. These inoculants were observed to facilitate the formation of fine, equiaxed grains and reduce the degree of crystallographic texture in the as-built microstructure. The presence of the nano-oxide particles in the microstructure served to restrict the mobility of grain boundaries during heat-treatment and promoted the formation of a bimodal grain structure with comparatively finer average size. Due to the reduction of crystallographic texture, the elastic anisotropy present in as-built specimens was greatly minimized with the addition of CoAl2O4 inoculants. Specimens containing inoculants were also found to possess improved tensile properties following heat-treatment at both room temperature and 650 degrees C. Furthermore, creep testing at 650 degrees C/650 MPa revealed that the steady strain rate of IN718 was lowered from 8.8 x 10(-9) s(-1) to 4.9 x 10(-9) s(-1), and the creep rupture life was extended by 52 hours in samples that were fabricated with CoAl2O4. These results strongly suggest that the decomposition of CoAl2O4 into Al-rich oxides during SLM processing not only contributes to grain refinement and a reduction in the degree of crystallographic texture but also forms an oxide dispersion that restricts the mobility of dislocations and grain boundaries in IN718.