Hot deformation behavior and microstructural evolution of supersaturated Inconel 783 superalloy

•Constitution equation and processing map are built for Inconel 783 superalloy.•The solute elements exert retarding effects on the recrystallized grain size.•Activation energy is low in the annealed superalloy due to absence of precipitate. Hot deformation behaviors of supersaturated Inconel 783 superalloys were investigated. Constitution equation and processing map were built, which identified the optimal hot deformation temperature and strain rate range to be 1100–1200 °C and near or below 0.1 s−1 but higher than 0.01 s−1, respectively. The microstructural observation showed that the recrystallized degree and grain size generally increased with the temperature but decreased with the strain rate. Further quantitative analysis, which agreed rationally with the experimental results, clearly demonstrated the strong retarding effect of the solute elements on the recrystallized grain size. Moreover, the activation energy of the supersaturated superalloy was lower than that of the forged one with second phases due to the weaker pinning effect on the dislocation movement. This work could provide guidance for designing treatments to achieve preferred microstructures.