Elemental partitioning and mechanical properties of Ti- and Ta-containing Co–Al–W-base superalloys studied by atom probe tomography and nanoindentation

Elemental partitioning and hardness in Ti- and Ta-containing Co-base superalloys, strengthened by γ′-Co3(Al, W) precipitates, have been studied by local measurements. Using atom probe tomography, we detect strong partitioning of W (partitioning coefficients from 2.4 to 3.4) and only slight partitioning of Al (partitioning coefficients ⩽1.1) to the γ′-Co3(Al, W) phase. Al segregates to the γ/γ′ phase boundaries, whereas W is depleted at the γ side of the boundaries after aging at 900 °C and slow air cooling. This kind of Al segregation and W depletion is much less pronounced when water quenching is applied. As a result, these effects are considered to be absent at high temperatures and therefore should not influence the creep properties. Ti and Ta additions are found to strongly partition to the γ′ phase and greatly increase the γ′ volume fraction. Our results indicate that the alloying elements Al, W, Ti and Ta all occupy the B sublattice of the A3B structure (L12 type) and affect the partitioning behavior of each other. Nanoindentation measurements show that Ta also increases the hardness of the γ′ phase, while the hardness of the γ channels remains nearly constant in all alloys. The change in hardness of the γ′ phase can be ascribed to the substitution of Al and W atoms by Ti and/or Ta.