Experimental and Numerical Studies on Recrystallization Behavior of Single-Crystal Ni-Base Superalloy

The recrystallization (RX) behavior of superalloy during standard solution heat treatment (SSHT) varies significantly with deformation temperature. Single-crystal (SX) samples of Ni-base superalloy were compressed to 5% plastic deformation at room temperature (RT) and 980 °C, and the deformed samples were then subjected to SSHT process which consists of 1290 °C/1 h, 1300 °C/2 h, and 1315 °C/4 h, air cooling. RT-deformed samples showed almost no RX grains until the annealing temperature was elevated to 1315 °C, while 980 °C-deformed samples showed a large number of RX grains in the initial stage of SSHT. It is inferred that the strengthening effect of γ’ phases and the stacking faults in them increase the driving force of RX for 980 °C-deformed samples. The RX grains nucleate and grow in dendritic arms preferentially when the microstructural inhomogeneity is not completely eliminated by SSHT. A model coupling crystal plasticity finite element method (CPFEM) and cellular automaton (CA) method was proposed to simulate the RX evolution during SSHT. One ({111} <110>) and three ({111} <110>, {100} <110>, {111} <112>) slip modes were assumed to be activated at RT and 980 °C in CPFEM calculations, respectively. The simulation takes the inhomogeneous as-cast dendritic microstructure into consideration. The simulated RX morphology and density conform well to experimental results.