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Effect of building direction and heat treatment on mechanical properties of Inconel 939 prepared by additive manufacturing

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Abstract

This study investigated the effect of building direction (BD) and three-step heat treatment on the microstructure and mechanical properties of a nickel-based superalloy Inconel 939 produced by additive manufacturing (AM), and it revealed the differences to the conventional cast superalloy. Tensile specimens were printed in horizontal and vertical BDs, and tensile tests were performed at room temperature, 700 °C and 800 °C. Thorough microstructural scrutiny conducted through light and electron microscopy revealed microstructural differences between AM and cast Inconel 939. The columnar grain structure with a preferential orientation of <001> was typical for AM alloy, whereas polyhedral grain without any specific orientation was typical for cast alloy. Experiments showed that the AM material had much better mechanical properties than the cast material. Heat treatment resulted in a formation of a fine dispersion of spherical γ′ nanoprecipitates, triggering a considerable increase in tensile strength and a drop in ductility.

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Acknowledgements

Authors acknowledge the financial support of the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (FW03010190) and European Union H2020 Twinning project SIRAMM (H2020-WIDESPR EAD-2018-03 No. 857124).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Physics of Materials, Czech Academy of Sciences, Žižkova 22, 616 00, Brno, Czech Republic

    Ivo Šulák, Tomáš Babinský, Alice Chlupová & Luboš Náhlík

  2. Innovation Center of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Belgrade, Kraljice Marije 16, Belgrade, Serbia

    Aleksa Milovanović

Authors
  1. Ivo Šulák
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  2. Tomáš Babinský
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  3. Alice Chlupová
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  4. Aleksa Milovanović
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  5. Luboš Náhlík
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ivo Šulák.

Additional information

Ivo Šulák is a postdoc at the Institute of Physics of Materials (IPM), Brno, Czech Republic. He received his Ph.D. in Physical and Materials Engineering from the Brno University of Technology (BUT) in 2019. His research interest includes high-temperature degradation mechanisms, 3D printing, and superalloys.

Tomáš Babinský is a Ph.D. student at IPM, Brno, Czech Republic. His subject field is focused on degradation mechanisms during fatigue, especially on the role of surface relief evolution on the fatigue crack initiation and fatigue life in nickel superalloys.

Alice Chlupová is a researcher at IPM, Brno, Czech Republic. She received her Ph.D. in Physical and Materials Engineering from BUT in 1999. She is based in the characterization of materials, fatigue testing, and water jet technology.

Aleksa Milovanović is a Ph.D. student at the University of Belgrade, Innovation Center of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Belgrade, Serbia. His research interest involves 3D printing technology, polymer materials, and fracture toughness.

Luboš Náhlík is an Assoc. Prof. at IPM, Brno, Czech Republic. He received his Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics from the BUT in 2002, and he has been Assoc. Prof. at BUT and IPM since 2009. His research interest covers advanced fracture mechanics, high cycle fatigue, finite element analysis, 3D printing technologies, polymers, metals, and composite materials.

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Šulák, I., Babinský, T., Chlupová, A. et al. Effect of building direction and heat treatment on mechanical properties of Inconel 939 prepared by additive manufacturing. J Mech Sci Technol 37, 1071–1076 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-022-2101-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-022-2101-7

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