The initiation and propagation mechanism of the overlapping zone cracking during laser solid forming of IN-738LC superalloy

The cracking mechanism, especially the initiation and propagation process of cracking, in the overlapping zone (OZ) of laser solid forming (LSF) of IN-738LC alloy was investigated. The results showed that both the solidification cracks and liquation cracks can be found in the OZ of the LSFed IN-738LC specimen. The liquation cracking can be ascribe to the local melting of γ-γ′ eutectic at grain boundaries and could further become the initiation site of solidification cracks in the OZ of LSFed IN-738LC. According to the EBSD analysis and the Rappaz's theoretical model, the cracks in OZ always propagated along the high-angle grain boundaries due to their relatively wider solidification temperature range compared with the lower angle grain boundaries. The thermal stress and residual stress (cracking driving force) of the LSFed IN-738LC deposit was estimated by Vickers micro-indentation method combing a series of microhardness and room temperature tensile testing. It was shown that the residual stress in OZ was obviously higher than that in the inner-track zones due to the different thermal history of the two zones, while the microhardness of the two zones were about at the same level. Preheating was found to be effective in suppressing cracking by reducing the residual stress in LSFed IN-738LC deposit and the crack free deposit was obtained with preheating at 700 °C.