The nickel-based superalloy IN939W is an alloy designed to
provide excellent weldability through the control of trace
elements and is currently used in the repair and refurbishment of
aircraft engine components. In this study, unidirectional
solidific...
The nickel-based superalloy IN939W is an alloy designed to
provide excellent weldability through the control of trace
elements and is currently used in the repair and refurbishment of
aircraft engine components. In this study, unidirectional
solidification and TIG, DED, and L-PBF welds of IN939W were
analyzed to investigate the solidification behavior of low- and
high-speed solidified microstructures, contributing to the
optimization of welding processes. During directional
solidification, the solid–liquid interface transitioned from planar to
cellular and dendritic with increasing solidification rate, and both
PDAS and SDAS decreased accordingly. Dendritic structures
were observed in all welds, with finer dendrites in the order of
L-PBF, DED, and TIG; the same trend was seen in PDAS and
SDAS. Using the Goldak flux model, the temperature distributions
were numerically analyzed to calculate cooling rate, temperature
gradient, and solidification rate for each process, which were
found to be fastest in the order of L-PBF, DED, and TIG,
attributed to differences in heat input and welding speed.
Thermodynamic calculations of the equilibrium phase diagram
and physical properties of IN939W were used to determine
changes in solidus and liquidus temperatures, tip temperatures of
the solid–liquid interface, and the critical transition velocity
governing interface morphology transitions. When the
temperature gradient and solidification rate obtained from the
directional solidification experiment and the TIG, DED, and LPBF
welds were plotted on a solidification interface map, the
theoretical interface morphologies were found to be consistent
with the experimentally observed ones.