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Nickel and other super alloys
by
Assoc.Prof.Dr.Bovornchok Poopat
KMUTT
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Nickel
The name nickel is from the German
for Old Nicks (the Devils) copper a
derogatory term for the hard useless
metal yielded by what was thought to
be a copper-bearing ore
These days nickel is an important alloy
element, with much wider application
than copper
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Unusual properties
Nickel-iron with low expansion
coefficient (Invar)
Nickel-chromium resistance heating
elements
Shape memory alloys (Ni-Ti)
Alloys with soft magnetic properties
Superalloys for gas turbine engines and
other high temperature uses
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Nickel
fcc metal, no solid phase changes.
Grey colour
43% of production used in stainless
steels
20% in non-ferrous alloys
Alloy steels, foundry products
Other uses
Chemicals, catalysts, ceramics, coinage,
magnets
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Nickel alloys
About 60 alloys
Some with less than 50% nickel (or any other
alloy element)
Single phase alloys (fcc)
Nickel has a high solubility of Cu, Cr, Mo, Fe, etc
Precipitation hardened alloys
With Al, Ti or Nb in above 0.5%
Dispersion strengthened alloys
Produced by powder metallurgy
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Alloy designations
The alloy names are based upon proprietary
names, usually from Inco, Haynes, Krupp-
VDM,
eg Alloy 625 was originally Inconel

625
UNS number is a 5-digit numbers preceded by
N
eg Alloy 625 is UNS N06625
ISO 9722 numbers are often (but not always)
based upon the UNS numbers
eg UNS N06625 is ISO NW6625
DIN designations are descriptive (NiCr22Mo9Nb)
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Properties
Corrosion resistance to neutral, acid, basic,
oxidising or reducing environments
Piping, vessels for chemicals, seawater, etc
High temperature strength, corrosion and
oxidation resistance
Up to 1200C
High cost
Nickel alloy weld overlays commonly used
Nickel alloys are excellent filler metals for
dissimilar welds
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Metallurgy of nickel alloys
Alloys are mostly single phase fcc
Nickel has a wide range of solubility for
other metals
Alloys contain Cu, Cr, Mo, Fe,
Age hardenable alloys contain
aluminium, niobium and/or titanium
Dispersion-strengthened alloys contain
2% thoria (ThO
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) and are made by
powder metallurgy.
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Commercially pure nickel
Nickel 200
Up to 0.15% C as impurity; graphitises at
over 320C
Resists caustic soda & other alkalies
Nickel 201: 0.02% C maximum
Duranickel 301: Ni-4.4Al-0.6Ti
Age hardening gamma prime
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Applications of pure nickel
Caustic soda handling equipment
Food processing
Laboratory crucibles
Chemical shipping drums
Electrical and electronics parts
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Nickel-copper (Monel metal)
Probably the best corrosion resistance to a wide range
of environments of any alloy
Monel

400: 70Ni-30Cu fcc alloy: R

m
480 to 1170
MPa
Cladding, vessels and piping for seawater, brackish water,
chlorinated solvents, many acids and alkalies
Monel 405: 0.04% S - free machining
Monel K-500: 2.7% Al, 0.6% Ti: R
m
1100 to 1240
MPa
Age hardening - gamma prime phase
Steam turbine blades, etc
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Nickel-chromium alloys
Over 50% Ni with >15% Cr, Mo, Fe, C, W
Single phase fcc, solid solution strengthened
Seamless transition to austenitic stainless steel
Wide range of temperatures (cryogenic to
1000C)
Acids, neutral and alkalies. Oxidising and
reducing chemicals.
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Examples of Ni-Cr alloys
Nichrome alloys
80Ni-30Cr, 60Ni-16Cr-24Fe
Electrical resistors & heating elements
Inconel

600, 625, 671, 690

Eg Inconel 625: 61Ni-21Cr-9Mo-3.6Nb
Hastelloy

C-4, C-276, G, G-3, N, S, W,

X
Eg Hastelloy

C-276: 59Ni-15.5Cr-16Mo-
3.75W-5.5Fe
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Nickel-iron-chromium alloys
Cross between austenitic stainless steel
and nickel alloys
Incoloy 800: 32.5Ni-21Cr-46Fe
RA333: 45Ni-25Cr-18Fe-3Mo-3Co-3W
Excellent resistance to oxidation at high
temperatures,
Good resistance to corrosion in acids and
salts, but not halides
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Fabrication of Ni alloys
Casting is difficult, but castings are produced
Forming (hot & cold) is similar, but somewhat
more difficult than austenitic stainless steels
Weldability is excellent for many types (better
than austenitic stainless steel)
Heating operations are generally performed in
controlled atmospheres to avoid
intercrystalline embrittlement
Avoid contamination with S, P, Pb, Zn, Sn
Solidification or liquation cracking
Welding procedures
GTAW, GMAW, MMAW, SAW, PAW, OFW, RW,
EBW,
Use matching or over-alloyed fillers
Keep arc energy low
Segregation can result in loss of corrosion
performance
Preheat not required
Keep clean to avoid cracking
Remove slag to avoid corrosion attack at high
temperatures
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Super alloys (high temperature)
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Super alloys
High temperature performance
(strength)
Gas turbines, steam turbines,
reciprocating engines
Hot working and casting tools and dies
Aircraft & space vehicles
Heat treatment trays, fixtures,
conveyors
Nuclear and chemical industries
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Alloy types
Selection depends on strength, creep &
oxidation performance at the elevated
temperature
Iron based alloys
Nickel based alloys
Cobalt based alloys
Refractory metals (niobium, molybdenum,
tantalum, rhenium & tungsten)
Directionally solidified eutectics, single
crystals, intermetallic compounds
Non-metals (graphite, ceramics)
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Fabrication
Fabrication & machining of many super
alloys is difficult
No hot or cold forming
Investment casting
Powder metallurgy
Electrochemical, electrodischarge or
ultrasonic machining
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Metallurgy of Fe, Ni & Co super alloys
Solid solution strengthened
Precipitation hardened
Oxide-dispersion strengthened
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Cobalt-based alloys
Resistant to specific environments, eg
engine combustion gases at high
temperature
High strength
R
y
up to 790 MPa & R
m
up to 1170 MPa at
room temperature
1000 hour rupture strength at 815C up to
230 MPa
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Typical cobalt-base alloys
650C to 1150C
Haynes

25, 188
Fasteners at 650C
UMCo-50, S-816
Wear alloys
Stellite

6B
fcc with some tendency to transform to
cph
Carbides and intermetallic compounds
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Nickel-based super alloys
Ni alloys have a better resistance to
high temperatures and have a higher
strength than stainless steels or cobalt
alloys
R
y
up to 1200 MPa & R
m
up to 1450 MPa at
room temp
1000 hour rupture strength at 850C up to
450 MPa
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Solid solution alloys
Inconels, Hastelloys, RA-333 used for
furnace parts
Nimonic

75 for gas turbines

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Precipitation hardened alloys
Aluminium and titanium, gamma prime
or gamma double prime precipitates
Inconel X-750, Nimonic 80,
Aerospace applications
Gas turbine blades
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Welding the PH Ni alloys
GTAW process only
To avoid burn-out of strengthening alloys in
fillers
Cracking can be experienced
Anneal base material before welding
Stress relieve and age weldments
This also ensures welds have highest
strength
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A guide to filler metal selection
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Weldability and welding procedure
Nickel and Nickel alloys can be arc welded commonly
by SMAW, GTAW and GMAW with suitable filler
metals, though some alinys use only GTAW to
overcome a lesser degree of weldability.
The weldability can be affected by several factors i.e.
wrought alloys surpass castings, fine grain are
superior to coarse grain alloys, and annealed alloys
are better than age- or work-hardened alloyed.
The suitable filler metal normally has the chemical
composition similar to the base metal, but some base
metal uses a specific filler metal to prevent hot
cracking in the weld metal and to improve corrosion
resistance to a specific environment.
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Nickel and its alloys, like austenitic stainless steel,
have an austenitic face centered cubic (fcc) crystal
structure and exhibit no structural transformation in
the solidification process, thereby causing high
susceptibility to hot cracking in arc welding.
The Ni-Cr-Fe and Ni-Fe-Cr alloys, like some austemtic
stainless steels, can exhibit carbide precipitation in
the weld heat-affected zone, though in most
environments such sensitization does not impair
corrosion resistance in nickel-based alloys as it does
in the austenitic stainless steel. This is because many
alloys have an addition of titanium or niobium to
stabilize carbon.
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Porosity can be a problemgenerally
the result of carbon being oxidized
during welding or of nitrogen absorption.
Virtually all filler metals for nickel and
nickel alloy contain such elements as
Mn, Al, Ti and Nb to deoxidize and
denitrify the weld metal to avoid
porosity. However, excessive amounts of
oxygen and nitrogen entrapped in the
weld metal can cause blowholes.
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Precipitation hardened alloys generally contain
Higher amouts of Al and Ti to improve the
elevated temperature strength.
With this type of alloy, SMAW can result in
degraded weld metal mechanical properties
and inter-bead slag adhesion, while high-heat-
input GMAW can cause strain-age cracking in
the heat-affected zone of the base metal;
therefore, only GTAW is used in the annealed
(solution treated) condition and the completed
fabrication is age-hardened with a postweld
heat treatment.
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Such complicated welding procedures
including preweld annealing and
postweld age-hardening should be
conducted by consulting the suppliers of
the base metal and filler metal to be
used.