Cast microstructure of Inconel 713C and its dependence on solidification variables

The dependence of cast microstructure of Inconel 713C on solidification variables was investigated over a wide range of local cooling rates, epsilon, and thermal gradients in the liquid at the solid-liquid interface, G. The shape of MC carbide particles was found to depend greatly on: 1) the G/R ratio at the solid-liquid interface, where R is growth rate, through the effect of this ratio on the solid phase, γ/sub g/, growth morphology. Under planar front growth conditions the carbide particles were octahedral, under cellular growth conditions they were plate-like, elongated along the cellular growth direction, and under dendritic growth conditions they were irregularly shaped; 2) the local cooling rate, epsilon, when γ was dendritic, with a transition from octahedral to dendritic with increasing epsilon. The size of MC carbide particles was found to be controlled by coarsening and to become finer with increasing epsilon. In this alloy the composition of the MC carbide was established as (Nb0.63Ti0.31M00.06)C and was practically independent of local cooling rate. Other observations were that the precipitation of γ, d the formation of nonequilibrium eutectics, such as MC-γ, γ-γ' or MC-γ-γ' were suppressed at splat-cooling rates. Also, microsegregation of all alloying elements with the exception of aluminum was normal, with concentration increasing from the dendrite center-line to the dendrite arm boundary. Aluminum behaved in the opposite manner. Within the cooling rate range used herein, this variable had only a slight effect on microsegregation