Research progress in fabrication of nickel-based superalloy components by electron beam powder bed fusion

Abstract

Nickel-based superalloys are important structural materials in turbine engines and gas turbines，but their conventional fabrication processes are complex，costly and have poor raw-material-utilization rate. The electron beam powder bed fusion（EBPBF） technology is a new solution for forming superalloys，which can realize near net forming of complex structural parts. During more than ten years of development，EBPBF technology has realized the high-quality formation of superalloy materials and components represented by Inconel 718 and Inconel 625，and has continuously extended its capability to form crack-free，high-γ'-phase-portion difficult-to-weld nickel-based superalloys，and can even directly prepare single-crystal nickel-based superalloy components. In this paper，the relevant literatures on EBPBF nickel-based superalloys in recent years are reviewed，and the current research status from the perspectives of printability，process optimization，property characterization of EBPBF nickel based superalloy components are analyzed and summarized，and also the future research work is proposed.

Keywords

• superalloys
• additive manufacturing
• electron beam powder bed fusion
• microstructure optimization
• mechanical properties