Understanding and Predicting Properties and Performance of Additively Manufactured Nickel-Based Superalloys

增材制造或3D打印为关键部件的高效定制制造提供了巨大的机会。这种加工方法可以应用于镍基高温合金，这是一种具有优异的高温强度和良好的抗氧化性的特殊材料，因此在广泛的技术和应用中得到了应用。该奖项支持研究，以了解加工和性能之间的基本关系，这将允许开发最佳的增材制造工艺，以制造镍基高温合金零件。最佳工艺将使增材制造的镍基高温合金具有优异的抗高温氧化表面损伤能力，同时保持优异的强度。增材制造合金在航空航天、汽车、生物医药、能源和化学工业中具有潜在的应用前景。因此，这项研究的结果有可能使美国经济受益，并提高制造能力。此外，研究成果将纳入课程改进，学生培训，产业合作和教育推广计划。该奖项支持的活动将有助于从代表性不足的群体中招募学生参与研究，并将对科学和工程学科的高等教育产生积极影响。镍基高温合金的高强度和优异的抗氧化性使这些材料成为高温应用的良好候选者。增材制造的镍基高温合金具有可与传统制造技术生产的合金相媲美的机械性能，但其耐高温氧化性无法与传统制造的部件相媲美。为了实现增材制造在高温合金制造中的应用，本研究旨在了解和预测增材制造镍基高温合金的加工-显微组织-氧化关系。研究团队将利用激光工程净成形增材制造技术制造层状镍基高温合金，利用电子显微镜对合金进行微观结构分析，利用数值模拟技术预测增材制造镍合金的凝固微观结构，并通过热重分析测量增材制造镍合金的高温氧化性能。这项研究将为确定一个临界冷却速率提供知识，在此速率下，添加剂制造的镍基高温合金可以保持优越的高温腐蚀性能。

Additive manufacturing, or 3D Printing, offers tremendous opportunity for efficient, custom manufacturing of critical parts. This processing approach can be applied to Nickel-based superalloys, which are specialized materials that have excellent high-temperature strength and good oxidation resistance, and hence are used in a wide range of technologies and applications. This award supports research to understand the fundamental relationships between processing and performance which will allow development of optimal additive manufacturing processes to fabricate nickel-based superalloy parts. An optimal process will enable the additively manufactured nickel-based superalloys to have excellent resistance to surface damage by high temperature oxidation while also retaining superior strength. Additively manufactured alloys have potential application in aerospace, automotive, biomedical, energy, and chemical industries. The results from this research therefore have the potential to benefit the U.S. economy and enhance manufacturing capabilities. Moreover, the research results will be incorporated into curriculum enhancement, student training, industrial collaboration, and an educational outreach program. Activities supported under this award will contribute to recruiting students from underrepresented groups to participate in research, and will positively impact higher education in science and engineering disciplines.The combination of high strength and superior oxidation resistance of nickel-based superalloys make these materials good candidates for high-temperature applications. Additively manufactured nickel-based superalloys can possess mechanical properties comparable to those produced by conventional manufacturing techniques, but their resistance to high temperature oxidation is not comparable to conventionally manufactured components. To enable the application of additive manufacturing for high-temperature alloy fabrication, this research aims to understand and predict the processing-microstructure-oxidation relationships for additive manufactured nickel-based superalloys. The research team will fabricate nickel-based superalloys in layered forms using the laser engineered net shaping additive manufacturing technique, perform microstructural analysis on the alloys using electron microscopy, predict the solidification microstructure of the additive manufactured Ni alloys using numerical modeling techniques, and measure the high-temperature oxidation performance of additive manufactured Ni alloys via thermogravimetric analysis. This research will provide knowledge for determination of a critical cooling rate below which the superior high-temperature corrosion properties can be maintained in the additive manufactured nickel-based superalloys.