Grain Boundary Engineering for Assessing Durability and Aging Issues with Nickel-Based Superalloys

Integran Technologies USA Inc.(Pittsburgh, PA) is pleased to provide this proposal in response to the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Request for Proposal (RFP) (#A1.03), "Aircraft Aging and Durability". A material characterization technology is proposed that is based on grain boundary structure-property relationship to improve prediction of component life for nickel based superalloys. Since it has been well documented that the resistance to intergranular degradation is a function of the special (i.e., structurally ordered low- grain boundaries) grain boundary content in the material, the improvement in bulk material performance can be achieved through careful manipulation of the processing parameters to increase the presence of these special interfaces. The proposed program builds upon results of previous proprietary developments by the applicant in the areas of the microstructural optimization via metallurgical thermo-mechanical processing and the developed modeling concept based on grain boundary structure assessment. The program will involve material synthesis, testing and characterization activities with a specific emphasis on correlating the materials performance with respect to the grain boundary microstructure. The objective for this phase I program is to establish the inter-relationship amongst material processing, grain boundary character distribution, corrosion and deformation behaviour of the material. As a result of significant advances already made in the development of grain boundary engineering, the program proposed herein is expected to have a high probability of success and can potentially lead to a cost-effective technology for mitigating the susceptibility to microstructural instability and corrosion associated with Ni-based superalloys. This program is expected to require six (6) months for completion at a total cost of $100,000.