Delta phase precipitation in Inconel 718

The precipitation and dissolution kinetics of the δ-phase were studied in three wrought versions and one spray-formed (SF) version of the nickel alloy, Inconel 718. The precipitation in the spray-formed version and one wrought version was followed during isothermal ageing for up to 100 h between 700 and 1000 °C. The δ-phase precipitates in the form of nonuniformly distributed thin platelets and an alternative method of measuring volume fraction of this precipitate morphology is proposed. At and above 800 °C, the precipitation was measured quantitatively in terms of the volume fraction and platelet thickness distribution. The maximum rate of precipitation occurred at approximately 900 °C. The solvus temperature lay between 1005 and 1015 °C for Nb contents of 5.06 and 5.41 wt.%, respectively. A study was made of the dissolution of the δ-phase in all four alloys using isochronal treatments and this confirmed the above solvus temperature range. The effect of δ-phase and its dissolution on the grain growth of the alloys was also determined.