There is a need to increase the temperature capabilities of superalloy turbine disks. This would allow full utilization of higher temperature combustor and airfoil concepts under development. One approach to meet this goal is to modify the processing and chemistry of advanced alloys, while preserving the ability to use rapid cooling supersolvus heat treatments to achieve coarse grain, fine gamma prime microstructures. An important step in this effort is to understand the key high temperature tensile properties of advanced alloys as they exist during supersolvus heat treatments. This could help in projecting cracking tendencies of disks during quenches from supersolvus heat treatments. The objective of this study was to examine the tensile properties of two advanced disk superalloys during simulated quenching heat treatments. Specimens were cooled from the solution heat treatment temperatures at controlled rates, interrupted, and immediately tensile tested at various temperatures. The responses and failure modes were compared and related to the quench cracking tendencies of disk forgings.

SOURCE: Gabb, T.P., J. Gayda, P. T. Kantzos, T. Biles, W. Konkel. "The Tensile Properties of Advanced Nickel-Base Disk Superalloys During Quenching Heat Treatments." NASA/TM -2001-211218. Prepared for the 2001 Fall Meeting sponsored by The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society, Indianapolis, Indiana, November 4-8, 2001.

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