Columnar Dendrite Morphology and Solute Concentration of GH3039 Nickel-Based Superalloys during Wire and Laser Additive Manufacturing: Insights from Phase Field Simulations

Abstract

Wire and laser additive manufacturing (WLAM) can produce outstanding mechanical properties of GH3039 nickel-based superalloys. A quantitative rapid phase field model with solute trapping kinetics has been developed during the rapid solidification process, where a range of process conditions are considered in terms of thermal gradients and pulling speeds. Intergranular hot cracking is found to occur at boundaries of tilted columnar dendrite in the GH3039 nickel-based superalloys. The simulations demonstrate that the phase field model considering the interface deflection can represent the dendrite growth during additive manufacturing more realistically. With the aid of numerical simulations, it is determined that dendrite growth morphologies transform from symmetrical columnar dendrite to tilted columnar dendrite as the interface crystallographic deflection is increased, while increasing the deflection angle can lead to uneven composition of material matrix, especially at the columnar dendrite interface. Solute concentrations at the columnar dendrite interface tend to promote hot cracking in additively manufactured Ni-based superalloy.

Keywords

• wire and laser additive manufacturing
• phase field simulation
• solute concentration
• interface crystallographic deflection
• columnar dendrite