Microstructure and Fatigue Analysis of PM-HIPed Alloys : A Focus on Inconel 625 and High-Nitrogen Tool Steel

Sammanfattning: Nickel-based superalloys and tool steels are well-known high-performance alloys due to their extensive use in many different industries. Nickel-based superalloys have found their way into aircraft, aerospace, marine, chemical, and petrochemical industries owing to their excellent high-temperature corrosion and oxidation resistance. On the other hand, tool steels could provide a combination of outstanding corrosion and wear resistance. They can play an important role in cutting and wear applications and manufacturing plastic extrusion and food processing components.Near-net shape manufacturing using powder metallurgy (PM) and hot isostatic pressing (HIP) can serve as an efficient manufacturing process to produce these alloys. This technology can successfully tackle conventional manufacturing challenges of highly alloyed materials i.e. segregation during the casting process or cracks during hot working processes of Ni-based superalloys, and carbide segregation and formation of large and irregularly shaped carbides in wrought and hot rolled tool steels. However, the presence of precipitates on prior particle boundaries (PPBs) in Ni-based superalloys, and metallurgical defects like non-metallic inclusions in both Ni-based superalloys and tool steels may affect the fatigue performance of these PM-HIPed products.This licentiate thesis aims to investigate the microstructure and fatigue behavior of two PM-HIPed alloys i.e. Inconel 625 and high-nitrogen tool steel. The results confirm precipitation along PPBs in PM-HIPed Inconel 625; however, no effect was detected in the fractography studies of the high cycle fatigue samples, and tensile properties were comparable with wrought materials reported in the literature. On the other hand, the microstructure of PM-HIPed high-nitrogen tool steel displayed dispersed precipitates and no traces of PPBs. Moreover, in both cases, i.e. very high cycle fatigue of PM-HIPed high-nitrogen tool steel and high cycle fatigue of PM-HIPed Inconel 625, fatigue crack initiation was attributed to the presence of non-metallic inclusions, either individually or agglomerated with precipitates. This underscores the significance of the manufacturing process in fatigue performance.