Precipitation and Growth Simulation of γ′ Phase in Single Crystal Superalloy DD6 with Multiphase-Field Method and Explicit Nucleation Algorithm

The microstructure evolution of Ni-based superalloys during heat treatment is of great significance for obtaining better service performance. However, heat treatment experimentation is costly and time-consuming, and sometimes fails to reveal physical mechanisms well. In the present study, a multiphase-field model coupled with an explicit nucleation algorithm was established to simulate the precipitation and growth of γ′ phase in DD6 superalloy, which can be applied to a multicomponent elastic-inhomogeneous system. The PanNickel© database was used to calculate thermodynamic and kinetic data in multicomponent superalloys. First, the coupling method of multiphase-field model and explicit nucleation algorithm was introduced. The coupled model was used to simulate the precipitation of γ′ phase under isothermal and non-isothermal conditions. It was found that a unimodal microstructure was formed under isothermal conditions and there was a “soft impingement” phenomenon, while a bimodal distribution composed of cuboidal γ′ precipitates and fine secondary γ′ precipitates was formed during a cooling process of 25–125 °C/min. The effect of cooling rate was studied. Then, the chemical and elastic driving forces were analyzed. It was found that Al and Ta contributed most to the chemical driving force, while Re and W gathered at the γ/γ′ interface and inhibited the growth of γ′ phase. γ′ precipitates had a cuboidal shape under the influence of elastic driving force. Finally, the growth and coarsening process of γ′ phase was studied and compared with the well-known Lifshitz−Slyosov−Wagner (LSW) theory. The growth of γ′ phase can be divided into rapid growth, coarsening and quasi-static coarsening stages according to the simulation results, among which the coarsening stage is basically consistent with the LSW theory. The current model can be used to simulate the precipitation and growth of single crystal superalloys where multicomponent and elastic effects are considered.