Effect of Heat Treatment on the Specific Heat Capacity of Nickel-Based Alloys

Alloy-718 and Udimet alloy 720 are gamma prime strengthened superalloys with excellent mechanical and thermal properties at elevated temperatures, as well as at cryogenic temperatures. The nickel-based alloys were improved to be resistant to creep and become stronger by changing the heat-treatment conditions. The measurement of the specific heat capacity of a nickelbased alloy is a very useful tool to investigate the effect of heat treatment. The specific heat capacity of nickel-based alloys Alloy-718 and Udimet alloy 720 were measured using a differential scanning calorimeter in the temperature range of 100 – 1000 K. The specific heat capacity of the nickel-based alloys increases monotonically with temperature; however, above 800 K, it is strongly dependent on the heat treatment conditions and it is thought to be influenced by the precipitation phase (γ , γ ). Optical and scanning electron microscopies are used to investigate the microstructure of the phases. The microstructures of the precipitates are examined.