J Mater Sci Technol ›› 2011, Vol. 27 ›› Issue (2): 118-126.

• High Temperature Structure Materials • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Evolution of Grain Selection in Spiral Selector during Directional Solidification of Nickel-base Superalloys

Xiangbin Meng1,2), Jinguo Li1), Tao Jin1), Xiaofeng Sun1), Changbo Sun3), Zhuangqi Hu1)   

  1. 1) Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China
    2) Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
    3) Shenyang Liming Aero-engine (Group) Corporation Ltd., Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), Shenyang 110043, China
  • Received:2010-07-15 Revised:2010-10-13 Online:2011-02-28 Published:2011-02-28
  • Contact: Jinguo Li
  • Supported by:

    the National Basic Research Program of China ("973 Program") under grant Nos. (2010CB631200 and 2010CB631206), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China under grant No. 50931004

Abstract: The process of grain selection in the spiral selector was investigated by both a ProCAST simulation based on a cellular automaton finite element (CAFE) model and experimental confirmation. The results show that the height of starter block, the spiral diameter and initial angle play an important role in grain selection. The dimension of selector should be maintained in a stable range to optimize the grain orientation and select a single crystal efficiently. A selector which can efficiently select a single crystal had been successfully designed. Grain orientation fluctuation in the spiral part was also studied by means of the variation of thermal condition.

Key words: Ni-base single crystal superalloys, Grain selection, Directional solidification