Liquation Cracking in the Heat-Affected Zone of IN738 Superalloy Weld

The main scope of this study investigated the occurrence of liquation cracking in the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of IN738 superalloy weld, IN738 is widely used in gas turbine blades in land-based power plants. Microstructural examinations showed considerable amounts of gamma' uniformly precipitated in the gamma matrix. Electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) maps showed the gamma-gamma' colonies were rich in Al and Ti, but lean in other alloy elements. Moreover, the metal carbides (MC), fine borides (M3B2 and M5B3), eta-Ni3Ti, sigma (Cr-Co) and lamellar Ni7Zr2 intermetallic compounds could be found at the interdendritic boundaries. The fracture morphologies and the corresponding EPMA maps confirmed that the liquation cracking in the HAZ of the IN738 superalloy weld resulted from the presence of complex microconstituents at the interdendritic boundaries.