The potential link between high angle grain boundary morphology and grain boundary deformation in a nickel-based superalloy

Focused ion beam (FIB) based serial sectioning was utilized to characterize the morphology of two high angle grain boundaries (HAGB) in a nickel based superalloy, one that experienced grain boundary sliding (GBS) and the other experienced strain accumulation, during elevated temperature constant stress loading conditions. A custom script was utilized to serial section and collect ion-induced secondary electron images from the FIB-SEM system. The MATLAB based MIPARTM software was utilized to align, segment and reconstruct 3D volumes from the sectioned images. Analysis of the 3D data indicates that the HAGB that exhibited GBS had microscale curvature that was planar in nature, and local serrations on the order of ±150 nm. In contrast, the HAGB that exhibited strain accumulation was not planar and had local serrations an order of magnitude greater than the other grain boundary. It is hypothesized that the serrations and the local grain boundary network are key factors in determining which grain boundaries experience GBS during creep deformation.