NUMERICAL DETERMINATION OF THE ELASTIC DRIVING FORCE FOR DIRECTIONAL COARSENING IN NI-SUPERALLOYS

We have developed a general methodology, in the framework of the finite element method, for locally evaluating the generalized force acting on a material interface which is work-conjugate with the normal displacement of the interface itself. This methodology has been applied to the study of directional coarsening of gamma' precipitates in Ni-superalloys. The flexibility of the proposed method has allowed us to closely model the actual microstructural morphology of the alloys and to account for the effects of applied boundary conditions, lattice misfit, elastic anisotropy and inelastic behavior of the crystals. We have positively compared the indications of our model with available experimental data for a few alloys, and a circumscribed parametric study has lead us to formulate a more general interpretation of the rafting phenomenon, which appears to give a satisfactory explanation for all the available experimental observations.