Temperature dependence of x-ray intensity profile FWHM of the γ' phase in the creep-deformed single crystal superalloy SC16

High-resolution diffraction using synchrotron x-ray radiation was applied to study γ' precipitates with an L12 superlattice crystal structure in the single crystal superalloy SC16 after creep deformation at 1223 K with a creep strain of ±0.5% for tensile and compressive loads, respectively. The measurements of full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 001 and 100 γ' superlattice reflections were performed at various temperatures from ambient temperature to 1173 K in vacuum. The experimental results revealed that the FWHM of both reflections decrease with increasing temperature. It is well-known that changes in particle size and lattice distortion in materials could lead to a variation of FWHM. The observed behaviour is discussed in the light of both the above-mentioned aspects. The decrease in the peak width is mainly attributed to the temperature dependence of the internal strain state.