Early instability phenomena of IN792 DS superalloy

Microstructure stability of the directionally solidified Ni base IN792 superalloy has been investigated by Mechanical Spectroscopy (MS), i.e. internal friction (IF) and dynamic modulus measurements. Repeated IF test runs from room temperature to 1173 K have been carried out on the same samples and a Q-1 maximum has been always observed above 700 K. Its position does not depend on the resonance frequency. After each run the values of modulus and Q-1 at room temperature change indicating that a progressive irreversible transformation occurs. Damping phenomena have been attributed to the rearrangement of dislocation structures in disordered matrix which modifies dislocation density and average distance of pinning points. The results are supported by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations.