The effect of composition on microstructure and properties for additively manufactured superalloy 718

Additive manufacturing (AM) represents an exciting new approach towards producing metallic aerospace components. The ability to make complex geometries that were impossible to create using conventional manufacturing methods has sparked interest from the aerospace community, including NASA. The use of AM components for crucial and human rated space missions necessitates a full characterization of the differences between AM and more conventional wrought and cast processes. For this study, sixteen different commercially available superalloy 718 powder feedstocks were obtained, built using laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF), and microstructurally and mechanically analyzed. These measurements revealed a wide range of build qualities and microstructures despite all powder lots falling within the 718 chemical specification and being processed using the same prescribed build and heat treatment parameters. Statistical analysis found a strong correlation of the amount of carbon in the powder with the final grain size and strength of the heat-treated 718 part. Ultimately, this study highlights the need of a refined superalloy 718 chemical specification for powder lots to be used in AM. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Automated summary

Additive manufacturing (AM) provides a new method for producing metallic aerospace components, but further research on powder characteristics is necessary for improvement.