Effect of Thermal Gradient on Solidification Microstructure in the Ni-Base Single Crystal Superalloy CMSX10

A single crystal superalloy including 6 wt.% Re, CMSX10 was studied by directional solidification at various thermal gradients, 13 ~ 23oC/mm and solidification rates, 1~100 μm/s. A high thermal gradient could be obtained by applying the liquid metal, such as Ga-In, as a cooling media in directional solidification apparatus, and also by adjusting the cold chamber in the Bridgman system. As increasing the solidification rate, the planar interface changed to cellular and dendritic interfaces. The higher thermal gradient contributed to reducing the dendrite arm spacing effectively, which results in reducing the size of eutectic, as well as higher solidification rate. The length of the mushy zone decreased with increasing the thermal gradient and increased with increasing the solidification rate.