Microstructures and mechanism of cracks forming of Rene 80 high-temperature alloy fabricated by laser rapid forming process

The microstructures and mechanism of cracks forming of a thick-wall part of Rene 80 superalloy fabricated by laser rapid forming (LRF) process are presented. Results show that the solidified microstructures of LRF Rene 80 high-temperature alloy consist of directionally solidified dendrites, which are parallel with the deposition direction. The MC type carbides and γ-γ' eutectic distribute in interdendritic region of the directionally solidified microstructure due to element segregation. The LRF Rene 80 high-temperature alloy thick-wall part contains many macro cracks, which have the length of more than 10 mm and expand along the direction parallel to the deposition direction. Analyses indicate that these macro cracks are liquated cracks. During LRF process, the γ-γ' eutectic with lower melting point particularly along the grain-boundary regions in heat-affected zone (HAZ) melt produced by laser melting pool and result in the formation of grain-boundary liquid. On the subsequent cooling process of the HAZ, the liquated cracks along the HAZ grain boundaries occurred by decohesion across the liquid-solid interface due to shrinkage stresses of solid phase in HAZ, while the liquated γ-γ' eutectic is still liquid.