Thickness Debit Effect in Creep Performance of a Ni3Al-Based Single-Crystal Superalloy with [001] Orientation

With the complexity of the structure of aero-engine turbine blades, the blade wall thickness continues to decrease. It is found that when the blade wall thickness decreases to a certain extent, its mechanical properties will decline significantly. It is extremely important to study this phenomenon of a significant decline in mechanical properties caused by wall thickness. In this paper, the creep behavior of a second-generation Ni3Al-based single crystal superalloy with different wall thicknesses and [001] orientation at 980 °C/220 MPa has been studied and compared with the creep life of Φ4 round bar. The experimental results show that the second orientation and the surface affected zone are not the main reasons for the reduction of the life of thin-walled samples under this experimental condition. By analyzing the fracture morphology and deformed microstructure of thin-walled samples with different thicknesses, it is found that the thickness debit effect of the single crystal alloy occurs since the effective stress area of the alloy changes due to internal defects and surface affected zone during the creep process. For thicker samples, the creep life of the alloy can be extended by making the samples undergo certain plastic deformation through better plastic deformation coordination ability, while for thinner samples, the plastic coordination ability is poor, and the ability to extend the creep life through plastic deformation is also weaker when the effective stress area of the alloy changes, which leads to the thinner samples being more prone to fracture.