Nickel-rhenium compound sheds light on the potency of rhenium as a strengthener in high-temperature nickel alloys

Sascha B. Maisel, Nils Schindzielorz, Alessandro Mottura, Roger C. Reed, and Stefan Müller
Phys. Rev. B 90, 094110 – Published 16 September 2014
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Abstract

For many decades, it has been known that rhenium imparts a tremendous resistance to creep to the nickel-based high-temperature alloys colloquially known as superalloys. This effect is so pronounced that is has been dubbed “the rhenium effect.” Its origins are ill-understood, even though it is so critical to the performance of these high-temperature alloys. In this paper we show that the currently known phase diagram is inaccurate, and neglects a stoichiometric compound at 20 at.% Re (Ni4Re). The presence of this precipitate at low temperatures and the short-range ordering of Re in fcc-Ni observed at higher temperatures have important ramifications for the Ni-based superalloys. The Ni4Re compound is shown to be stable by quantum mechanical high-throughput calculations at 0 K. Monte Carlo simulations show that it is thermally persistent up to 930 K when considering configurational entropy. The existence of this compound is investigated using extended x-ray absorption fine spectroscopy on a Ni96.62Re3.38 alloy.

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  • Received 29 January 2014
  • Revised 22 July 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.90.094110

©2014 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Sascha B. Maisel1, Nils Schindzielorz1, Alessandro Mottura2, Roger C. Reed3, and Stefan Müller1

  • 1Institute of Advanced Ceramics, Hamburg University of Technology, Denickestrasse 15, Building K, 21073 Hamburg, Germany
  • 2School of Metallurgy and Materials, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston B15 2TT, United Kingdom
  • 3Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PJ, United Kingdom

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Issue

Vol. 90, Iss. 9 — 1 September 2014

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