Influence of Hot Isostatic Pressing on the Hot Ductility of Cast Alloy 718: The Effect of Niobium and Minor Elements on the Liquation Mechanism

The influence of two hot isostatic pressing (HIP) treatments on liquation behavior was investigated and compared with regard to the extent of heat-affected zone liquation cracking in cast Alloy 718. The extent of liquation was seen to increase after HIP treatment at 1190 degrees C due to solute changes caused by the homogenization of Nb, which contributed to extensive grain boundary melting. The HIP treatment at 1120 degrees C exhibited lower liquation with contributions from particle liquation of the Laves phase and constitutional liquation of NbC carbides. This was also reflected in a lower ductility recovery temperature, with slower recovery for the former due to the extensive liquation. Interestingly, the nil ductility temperatures were both below the predicted equilibrium solidus of the alloy, which suggests that the ductility drop is related to liquation caused by solute segregation at the grain boundaries.