The effect of hydrogen on the deformation and fracture behavior of a single crystal nickel-base superalloy

The room temperature and 300 C tensile behavior of a single crystal superalloy, PWA 1480, has been studied as a function of internal hydrogen concentration and microstructure. Hydrogen is trapped at the porosity and eutectic gamma/gamma in the microstructure, and the effect of these trapping sites on the tensile behavior will be discussed. There is no effect of hydrogen on strength, however, the strain to failure decreases steadily with increasing hydrogen content up to 200 ppm. Cleavage of the eutectic gamma/gamma occurs without hydrogen, but the presence of internal hydrogen causes cracking in the eutectic gamma/gamma at a much earlier stage of deformation leading to a small total strain. In contrast to many superalloys with a high volume fraction of gamma precipitates, there was no evidence of shearing of the gamma, and it was found that at all strains the dislocations are trapped in the gamma matrix. The effect of hydrogen on this behavior and its relation to fracture is described.