Application of high temperature DSC technique to nickel based superalloys

Heat capacity is a critical input parameter in mathematical models of solidification and casting. It appears in its own right, and is required for the extraction of thermal conductivity from thermal diffusivity data. It also provides a measure of the latent heat associated with changes of phase, and the precipitation or dissolution of precipitates. Calorimetry is a well-established technique and is used to solve a wide range of materials problems such as studying precipitation or phase changes in alloy systems, and the kinetics of these phase transformations. The quality and range of data that can be obtained will be demonstrated by applying it to nickel base superalloys. This paper discusses important aspects of the measurement including control of the atmosphere, suitable reference materials for temperature and enthalpy calibration, size of the sample and the rate of heating and cooling. The optimised DSC technique was used to investigate the properties of two nickel based superalloys (CMSX4 and IN738LC), comparing the results with previous values and determining sources of error in the method. (C) 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers.