Design of New Creep-Resistant Nickel-Base Superalloys for Power-Plant Applications

摘要

A Gaussian processes computer program has beenused to model the mechanical properties of polycrystallinenickel-base superalloys as a function of their chemicalcomposition and heat treatment. The models are able toreproduce well-known metallurgical trends, and to estimate thebehaviour of new alloys. On this basis, several new creep-resistant alloys for power plant applications have been proposed.The candidate alloys have been scrutinised further using phasediagram calculations to reveal their equilibrium phaseconstitutions. This design process has led to a shortlist of alloyson the basis of their expected properties, microstructural stability and cost.