Room and elevated temperature tensile and fatigue behaviour of additively manufactured Hastelloy X

Quasi-static tensile and stress-controlled high cycle fatigue tests of solution heat-treated (SHT) Hastelloy X manufactured by electron beam powder bed fusion (PBF-EB) and laser-based power bed fusion (PBF-LB) process were performed at room temperature and 750 °C. Post-fabrication SHT was ineffective in overcoming the microstructural anisotropy observed within as-built specimens, with the grains still maintaining its columnar architecture along the build direction. A significant drop in ductility was observed in tensile specimens tested at 750 °C, which was attributed to the carbide precipitation and grain boundary sliding. Upon investigating the influence of microstructural evolution as a function of test duration, a significant increase in precipitation was observed with an increase in test duration. A notable decrease in the fatigue strength was observed at elevated temperature. The long columnar grain structure within vertically build PBF-EB specimens was found to offer higher resistance against fatigue at 750 °C, owing to its reduced grain boundary area perpendicular to the loading direction. The corresponding fatigue damage mechanisms were investigated via fractographic analysis of the fracture surfaces and longitudinal cross-sections of the fractured specimens. Irrespective of the build orientation and test conditions, the fatigue cracks that resulted in final failure were found to initiate from the specimen surface. Also, the grain boundary precipitates were found to result in intergranular cracking during elevated temperature fatigue tests.