Crack Inhibition and Performance Modification of NiCoCr-Based Superalloy with Y2O3 Nanoparticles by Laser Metal Deposition

A new precipitation strengthening NiCoCr-based superalloy with favorable mechanical performance and corrosion resistance was designed for ultra-supercritical power generation equipment. The degradation of mechanical properties and steam corrosion at high temperatures put forward higher requirements for alternative alloy materials; however, when the superalloy is processed to form complex shaped components through advanced additive manufacturing techniques such as laser metal deposition (LMD), hot cracks are prone to appear. This study proposed that microcracks in LMD alloys could be alleviated with powder decorated by Y2O3 nanoparticles. The results show that adding 0.5 wt.% Y2O3 can refine grains significantly. The increase in grain boundaries makes the residual thermal stress more uniform to reduces the risk of hot cracking. In addition, the addition of Y2O3 nanoparticles enhanced the ultimate tensile strength of the superalloy at room temperature by 18.3% compared to original superalloy. The corrosion resistance was also improved with 0.5 wt.% Y2O3, which was attributed to the reduction of defects and the addition of inert nanoparticles.