A Microstructure Evolution Model for the Processing of Single-Crystal Alloy CMSX-4 Through Scanning Laser Epitaxy for Turbine Engine Hot-Section Component Repair (Part II)

Part I [Metall. Mater. Trans. B, 2014, DOI:10.1007/s11663-014-0117-9] presented a comprehensive thermal, fluid flow, and solidification model that can predict the temperature distribution and flow characteristics for the processing of CMSX-4 alloy powder through scanning laser epitaxy (SLE). SLE is an additive manufacturing technology aimed at the creation of equiaxed, directionally solidified and single-crystal (SX) deposits of nickel-based superalloys using a fast-scanning laser beam. Part II here further explores the Marangoni convection-based model to predict the solidification microstructure as a function of the conditions at the trailing edge of the melt pool formed during the SLE process. Empirical values for several microstructural characteristics such as the primary dendrite arm spacing (PDAS), the columnar-to-equiaxed transition (CET) criterion and the oriented-to-misoriented transition (OMT) criterion are obtained. Optical microscopy provides visual information on the various microstructural characteristics of the deposited material such as melt depth, CET location, OMT location, PDAS, etc. A quantitative and consistent investigation of this complex set of characteristics is both challenging and unprecedented. A customized image-analysis technique based on active contouring is developed to automatically extract these data from experimental micrographs. Quantitative metallography verifies that even for the raster scan pattern in SLE and the corresponding line heat source assumption, the PDAS follows the growth relation w similar to G (-0.5) V (-0.25) (w = PDAS, G = temperature gradient and V = solidification velocity) developed for marginal stability under constrained growth. Models for the CET and OMT are experimentally validated, thereby providing powerful predictive capabilities for controlling the microstructure of SX alloys processed through SLE.