Microstructural evaluation of welded sheet metal formed parts

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this report is to evaluate the hardness and microstructure in bent and welded samples of Alloy 718. The results will be used by GKN aerospace to evaluate the simulated values of the production process of vines in a jet engine. In total, eleven samples from three different production chains are evaluated. All samples are bent and go through different stages within the production including bending, solution treatment and welding. The samples are cut and mounted in bakelite then polished and etched in order for the microstructure to be seen and evaluated. Hardness tests were made on the mounts to evaluate how bending, solution treatment and welding affects the hardness. The bent samples without the solution treatment became harder depending on the amount of cold deformation. The amount of cold deformation controls how fast the material recrystallizes during subsequent solution treatment. During the solution treatment, the δ-phase (Ni3Nb) is precipitated in the grain boundaries which prevents a coarser grain size and therefore promotes a smaller grain size.  The laser weld creates a small HAZ (heat affected zone) that becomes softer because the heat dissolves the δ-phase which therefore triggers the grains to grow. The weld consists of eutectic γ-dendrites with interdendritic pools of alloying elements. After the solution treatment, many needle shaped δ-phases arise from the pools and HAZ. The hardness measurements were tested on a manual machine which makes potential human error important to consider when the measurements are evaluated. When the grain size measurements are done on the solution treated samples, the grain boundaries can be difficult to determine because the δ-phases and twins create wide and incorrect boundaries. The results will be used by GKN Aerospace in order to verify their simulations. The heterogenic material after solution treatment will probably be studied further.