PROPERTIES, WELDABILITY AND APPLICATIONS OF ADVANCED WROUGHT SUPERALLOYS FOR GAS TURBINE ENGINES

Alloy selection and alloy design both require consideration of an array of material attributes, including in-service properties, weldability and fabricability. Critical properties of advanced wrought superalloys for gas turbine applications include high temperature strength, thermal stability, oxidation resistance and fatigue resistance. In this paper, the properties of twelve wrought solid-solution-strengthened and six age-hardenable superalloys are compared. Weldability is an important attribute and can be a major limiting factor in the use of certain alloys. Weldability test methods are discussed and the resistance of alloys to solidification cracking and strain-age cracking is compared. The use of weldability testing in the development of modern wrought su-peralloys is discussed with several examples cited. Finally, alloy selection for gas turbine components is outlined, taking into account both alloy properties and fabricability.