Computational Micromechanics
Modeling of Polycrystalline Superalloys:
Application to Inconel 718
Aitor Cruzado, Javier Llorca, and Javier Segurado
1 Introduction
Ni-based superalloys stand for the state-of-art structural materials for many applications working under high temperature such as parts of energy generation systems
or jet engines. Their complex chemical composition and microstructure have been
slowly improved during the last 70 years to meet the demands of the operation
conditions which require to support high stresses and temperatures (which may
vary with time, leading to thermomechanical fatigue) in an aggressive environment.
Further developments of Ni-based alloys have been hindered by the complexity
of the current alloys, which makes very inefficient the traditional “trial-and-error”
approach, and this has led to extensive use of computational tools to guide the
development of the next generation of superalloys [49, 56]. Similarly, the design
allowables have been established by means of costly experimental campaigns on
standard specimens and have to be repeated every time that the alloy composition
or microstructure changes, leading to further limitations in the innovation rate.
In this respect, approaches that combine simulation tools based on computational
homogenization of polycrystals with micromechanical experiments are opening new
perspectives to make accurate predictions of the mechanical behavior of complex
alloys that can take into account the effect of the microstructure. They will lead to
A. Cruzado
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Texas A& M University, College Station, TX, USA
Center for Intelligent Multifunctional Materials and Structures, TEES, Texas A& M University,
College Station, TX, USA
J. Llorca · J. Segurado ()
IMDEA Materials Institute, Getafe, Madrid, Spain
Department of Materials Science, Polytechnic University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
e-mail: javier.segurado@upm.es
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
S. Ghosh et al. (eds.), Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME),
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40562-5_5
127
Modeling of Polycrystalline Superalloys:
Application to Inconel 718
Aitor Cruzado, Javier Llorca, and Javier Segurado
1 Introduction
Ni-based superalloys stand for the state-of-art structural materials for many applications working under high temperature such as parts of energy generation systems
or jet engines. Their complex chemical composition and microstructure have been
slowly improved during the last 70 years to meet the demands of the operation
conditions which require to support high stresses and temperatures (which may
vary with time, leading to thermomechanical fatigue) in an aggressive environment.
Further developments of Ni-based alloys have been hindered by the complexity
of the current alloys, which makes very inefficient the traditional “trial-and-error”
approach, and this has led to extensive use of computational tools to guide the
development of the next generation of superalloys [49, 56]. Similarly, the design
allowables have been established by means of costly experimental campaigns on
standard specimens and have to be repeated every time that the alloy composition
or microstructure changes, leading to further limitations in the innovation rate.
In this respect, approaches that combine simulation tools based on computational
homogenization of polycrystals with micromechanical experiments are opening new
perspectives to make accurate predictions of the mechanical behavior of complex
alloys that can take into account the effect of the microstructure. They will lead to
A. Cruzado
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Texas A& M University, College Station, TX, USA
Center for Intelligent Multifunctional Materials and Structures, TEES, Texas A& M University,
College Station, TX, USA
J. Llorca · J. Segurado ()
IMDEA Materials Institute, Getafe, Madrid, Spain
Department of Materials Science, Polytechnic University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
e-mail: javier.segurado@upm.es
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
S. Ghosh et al. (eds.), Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME),
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40562-5_5
127