Superalloys are predominantly nickel-base alloys that are strengthened by solid-solution elements including molybdenum, tungsten, cobalt, and by precipitation of a Ni 3 (Al, Ti) type compound designated as gamma prime and/or a metastable Ni 3 Nb precipitate designated as gamma double prime. This article provides a discussion on the conventional processing, compositions, characteristics, mechanical properties, and applications of powder metallurgy (PM) superalloys. The conventional processing of PM superalloys involves production of spherical prealloyed powder, screening to a suitable maximum particle size, blending the powder to homogenize powder size distribution, loading powder into containers, vacuum outgassing and sealing the containers, and consolidating the powder to full density. PM superalloys include Rene 95, IN-100, LC Astroloy, Udimet 720, N18, ME16, RR1000, Rene 88DT, PA101, MERL 76, AF2-1DA, Inconel 706, AF115, and KM4. The article reviews specialized PM superalloy processes and technical issues in the usage of PM superalloys.

Precipitation hardening is a hardening mechanism found in various steels and alloy systems, such as nickel-, cobalt-, titanium-, copper-, and iron-base alloys. This article provides a brief description of precipitation hardening process, furnace equipment, surface-related problems, and protective atmospheres used in heat treatment of iron-base precipitation-hardenable (PH) superalloys. It focuses on various factors to be considered in heat treating of PH stainless steels: cleaning prior to heat treatment, furnace atmospheres, time-temperature cycles, variations in cycles, and scale removal after heat treatment. The article describes the mechanical properties, solution treatment, and aging treatment for many martensitic PH alloys, including: Alloy 17-4 PH, Alloy 13-8 Mo, Alloy 15-5 PH, Custom 450, and Custom 455; as well as semiaustenitic PH stainless steels such as Alloy 17-7 PH, Alloy PH 15-7 Mo, AM-350, Pyromet 350, AM-355, and Pyromet 355; austenitic PH stainless steel, A-286; cast PH stainless steels; and iron-nickel PH superalloys.

This article summarizes the general features of microstructure evolution during the thermomechanical processing (TMP) of nickel-base superalloys and the challenges posed by the modeling of such phenomena. It describes the fundamentals and implementations of various modeling methodologies. These include JMAK (Avrami) models, topological models, and mesoscale physics-based models.

Superalloys are nickel, iron-nickel, and cobalt-base alloys generally used for high-temperature applications. Superalloys are used in aircraft, industrial, marine gas turbines, nuclear reactors, spacecraft structures, petrochemical production, orthopedic and dental prostheses, and environmental protection applications. This article discusses the material characteristics, phases, structures, and systems of superalloys. It describes the processing of superalloys, including primary and secondary melting, deformation processing (conversion), powder processing, investment casting, and joining methods. The article also describes the properties, microstructure, and thermal exposure of superalloys. It further discusses the effects of environmental factors on superalloys, including oxidation and hot corrosion. Protective coatings are also discussed. The article provides information on the mechanical properties and chemical composition of nickel, iron, and cobalt-base superalloys in both the cast and wrought forms.

This article discusses fracture, fatigue, and creep of nickel-base superalloys with additional emphasis on directionally solidified and single-crystal applications. It analyzes the physical metallurgy of these alloys. The effects of grain boundary and grain size on failure are summarized. The article also discusses the effects of microstructure and extrinsic parameters on fatigue crack propagation (FCP). It details the modeling of FCP rates and creep and creep-fatigue crack growth rates.

The process of making assemblies of solid-solution and precipitation hardening groups of alloys and superalloys often requires welding of dissimilar metals, welding of diffusion-bonded materials, and sometimes weld overlay cladding and even thermal spraying that in turn requires special knowledge and treatments developed specifically for each material. This article emphasizes the special metallurgical welding considerations for welding solid-solution and precipitation hardening nickel alloys, cobalt alloys, and superalloys.

This article focuses on the properties of conventional wrought superalloys based on nickel, iron, and cobalt, as well as on the properties of alloys produced from powder. The powder metallurgy (P/M) category includes alloys that were originally developed as casting alloys; new alloy compositions developed specifically to benefit from powder processing; and oxide dispersion strengthened alloys (particularly those produced by mechanical alloying). The article discusses some of the applications of superalloys and emphazises the interplay between chemical composition, microstructure, consolidation method, mechanical properties and surface stability of wrought nickel alloys. Vacuum melting processes are a necessity for many nickel- and iron-nickel-base alloys because of the presence of aluminum and titanium as solutes. Cobalt-base alloys do not usually contain these elements and may be melted in air. An appendix to this article presents the property data and corresponding information on a family of cobalt-chromium-tungsten-carbon alloys that use P/M processing.

The initial cast superalloy developments in the United States centered on cobalt-base materials. Nickel-base and nickel-iron-base superalloys owe their high-temperature strength potential to their gamma prime content. For polycrystalline superalloy components, high-temperature strength is affected by the condition of the grain boundaries and, in particular, the grain-boundary carbide morphology and distribution. Vacuum induction melting offers more control over alloy composition and homogeneity than all other vacuum melting processes. The primary purification reaction occurring in the process is the removal of melt contained oxygen by means of a reaction with carbon to form carbon monoxide. A number of casting processes can provide near-net shape superalloy cast parts, but essentially all components are produced by investment casting. The solidification of investment cast superalloy components is precisely controlled so that the microstructure, which ultimately determines mechanical properties, remains consistent. Heat treating cast superalloys involves homogenization and solution heat treatments or aging heat treatments.

Directionally solidified (DS) and single-crystal (SX) superalloys and process technology are contributing to significant advances in turbine engine efficiency and durability. These gains are expected to arise from the development of higher creep strength and improved oxidation-resistant SX alloy compositions as well as from the development of SX casting and fabrication technology to utilize advanced transpiration-cooling schemes. This article provides a detailed discussion on the chemistry and castability of first- and second-generation DS and SX superalloys. It summarizes the chemistry modifications applied to MAR-M 247 to develop CMSX-2 with respect to function and objectives. The article also lists the nominal compositions of first- and second-generation DS and SX superalloys.

A significant amount of the worldwide demand for metals is met with recycled materials acquired by metal producers in the form of purchased scrap. This article focuses primarily on the methods and technology used to process and repurpose the vast amounts of purchased scrap that recirculate in the industrial supply chain. It describes the U.S. market for iron and steel scrap, providing information on scrap use by industry, factors influencing demand, and the purchased scrap supply. Iron and steel recycling is discussed separately from stainless steel and superalloy recycling in this article, as the scrap industry treats them differently. The scrap processing of iron involves collection, separation and sorting, size reduction and compaction, detinning, blending, and incineration. The recycling of stainless steels and superalloys follows the same process, but requires several additional steps, including secondary nickel refining, degreasing, and separation of metallurgical wastes.

This article covers the current state of materials development of nickel-base superalloys for additive manufacturing (AM) processes and the associated challenges. The discussion focuses on nickel-base superalloy fusion AM processes, providing information on typically encountered cracking mechanisms in AM nickel-base superalloys, such as solid-solution-strengthened nickel-base superalloys and precipitate-strengthened nickel-base superalloys. The mechanisms include solidification cracking, strain-age cracking, liquation cracking, and ductility-dip cracking. The article also provides a short discussion on binder jet AM and powder recyclability.