Thermodynamic assessment of liquid composition change during solidification and its effect on freckle formation in superalloys

The solidification macrosegregation, i.e. freckle, becomes more and more concerned with ever increasing demand for the large ingot size of superalloys. The evaluation of freckle formation is very difficult because of the less understanding of freckle formation mechanism and complex solidification behaviors of multi-component superalloys. The macrostructure of typical Nb-bearing and Ti-bearing superalloys in horizontally directional solidification and vacuum arc remelting (VAR) ingots were investigated to clarify the freckle formation mechanism. The thermodynamic approach was proposed to simulate the solidification behaviors. The relative Ra numbers, a reliable criterion, of freckle formation for some alloys were obtained based on the results of thermodynamic calculations. This thermodynamic approach was evaluated through comparison of the calculations from semi-experimental results. The Ra numbers obtained by thermodynamic approach are in good agreement with the ingot size capability of the industry melting shops, which is limited mainly by freckle defects.