The microstructure of heat-treated nickel-based superalloy 718Plus

The microstructure of thermally aged nickel-based 718Plus superalloy is investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Solution annealing at 980 °C for 30 min is followed by either the standard quenching to room temperature or quenching directly to 788 °C, before isothermal aging at 788 °C for four hours. Micro-hardness and yield strength are measured to compare the effects of the two variations. The size and phase fraction of γ′ precipitates are measured using dark-field TEM and related to the hardness and yield strength through a theoretical model based on coherency and antiphase boundary effects. A population of very small sub-precipitates is observed and the larger γ′ precipitates are investigated in detail using high resolution scanning TEM to reveal information about the chemical ordering.