JANUARY 2007 28

T
T
his article examines the issues that
are important in welding the super-
alloys and outlines how to prepare
for welding, how to make the weld, and
how to minimize or eliminate some of the
problems associated with the welding of
these alloys.
Superalloys Used Superalloys Used
Judiciously Judiciously
Most of the weight of an airplane is in
the fuselage, with the engines comprising
only about 10% of the total weight of a
large commercial aircraft and about 20%
of the weight of a single-engine fighter.
Because of their higher density and re-
sulting weight penalties compared to
lighter alloy systems such as aluminum
and titanium, superalloys are used in air-
craft and aerospace applications only
when absolutely necessary. The aero gas
turbine was the impetus for the develop-
ment of superalloys in the early 1940s,
when conventional materials available at
that time were insufficient for the de-
manding environment of the turbine. The
development of superalloys made the
modern gas turbine possible.
Propulsion system components, with
their high temperatures and high stresses,
are the most demanding areas of a gas tur-
bine and are heavy users of superalloys.
Rocket engines also use large amounts of
superalloys because of their high strength
and their ability to withstand both ele-
vated and cryogenic temperatures. Weld-
ing often plays an important role in the
fabrication of these structures.
The good news is that if you have ex-
perience welding the austenitic stainless
steels, you should not have any problems
welding the superalloys. There are some
differences, and while they can be more
challenging to weld and repair weld than
the stainless steels and some of the other
alloy systems, the superalloys are routinely
welded and repair welded successfully.
Preparation for Welding Preparation for Welding
Table 1 lists some of the superalloys
often specified in aircraft and aerospace
applications. In addition to the high lev-
els of nickel there are other elements that
are added to enhance properties, includ-
ing chromium, aluminum, titanium, and
many of the denser elements. Most of
these superalloys are specified because of
their excellent resistance to the environ-
ment and their strength, particularly at
high temperature.
Remove the Oxides Remove the Oxides
Prior to doing the actual welding, there
are some basic principles that should be
understood about these higher alloyed
materials. Of paramount importance is to
be aware of the higher melting points of
the dark oxide that forms on the surface
when exposed to high temperatures, such
as during heat-treating operations. To
avoid weld imperfections, this dark oxide
must be removed from the weld area be-
fore any welding is done. Table 2 shows
the melting points of several oxides. The
oxides that form on carbon steel melt at
around the same temperature as the car-
bon steel itself; therefore, the high heat
of the welding arc will melt these oxides
and they will be absorbed into the weld
pool with little, if any, consequence. How-
ever, if a weld is made on top of the dark
oxide on a stainless steel or nickel alloy,
these oxides will probably not all melt and
be absorbed into the weld pool because
of their high melting point. The resulting
oxides may be trapped in the weld pool
and may not be able to float to the top be-
cause of the rapid cooling of the weld pool.
These trapped oxide particles must be re-
moved by grinding out the weld and
rewelding. If not removed, the oxide par-
Welding
Welding
Superalloys for
Superalloys for
Aerospace
Aerospace
Applications
Applications
DONALD J. TILLACK is with Tillack Metallurgical Consulting, Inc., consultant to the Nickel Institute.
Superalloys, critical to aircraft and aerospace Superalloys, critical to aircraft and aerospace
components, are successfully welded and repaired components, are successfully welded and repaired
when basic guidelines are followed when basic guidelines are followed
BY DONALD J. TILLACK BY DONALD J. TILLACK
Tillack 1 07:Layout 1 12/11/06 10:31 AM Page 28
29 WELDING JOURNAL
ticles may be initiation points for fracture.
Figure 1 shows several oxide inclusions in
a superalloy weld.
These dark oxides cannot be removed
by wire brushing; they must be removed
aggressively, either by machining, grind-
ing, or abrasive blasting, or by pickling
with chemical solutions.
Element Contaminants Element Contaminants
The weld area must also be clean before
welding. There are many elements that can
cause weld cracking if allowed to enter the
weld pool, including sulfur, phosphorus,
low melting elements (such as copper, zinc,
tin, and lead), and carbon (a carburized sur-
face will usually crack if welded).
Sulfur is probably the most commonly
encountered contaminant because it is
present in many compounds. Figure 2 il-
lustrates what can happen when a weld is
attempted on a high-sulfur surface. The
left side of the nickel sheet was cleaned
properly with a clean cloth and clean sol-
vent. The right side was intentionally
cleaned with a dirty cloth and dirty solvent,
and then a weld was made between the two
areas. Note the extensive heat-affected
zone cracking on the contaminated side of
the sheet, caused by the combination of
high nickel, high stress, high sulfur, and
high heat. The side of the sheet that was
cleaned properly shows no cracking.
Contaminants can come from a vari-
ety of sources. Hydrocarbons, such as oil
and grease, and machining lubricants can
have high levels of sulfur. Marking
crayons, temperature-indication sticks,
tools, hammers, and backing bars can also
be troublesome, as can shop dirt. If crack-
ing problems exist, these potential sources
of contamination should be investigated.
Making the Weld Making the Weld
When welding the superalloys, the
weld pool shape is important. To avoid
cracking, the weld pool should have an el-
liptical shape and be convex. Centerline
cracking can be a problem if the trailing
edge of the weld pool is an arrowhead, or
tear-shaped, and/or concave. Figure 3
shows the proper and improper weld pool
shapes and illustrates how the solidifica-
tion pattern of the tear-shaped weld pool
concentrates solute in the grain bound-
aries of the solidifying weld metal. With
the tear-shaped weld pool, the solidifying
grains meet in a plane along the center of
the weld. This is a plane of weakness and
with the high stresses associated with the
welding and solidification process, this is
where cracking will occur along the
centerline of the weld. With an elliptical,
or rounded, weld pool, however, the so-
lidifying grains are more randomly dis-
persed and do not meet in the center of
the weld in a straight line, thus making
centerline crack much less likely.
Consistent Weld Pool Shape Consistent Weld Pool Shape
Table 3 compares several welding
processes with different welding condi-
Table 1 Chemical Compositions (wt-%) of Representative Aerospace Alloys
Alloy Structure type Ni Cr Co Al Ti Nb Mo W Ta Other
Hastelloy X
(a)
Wrought solid solution 51 22 1.5 9 0.6 18Fe, C
Inconel 718 Wrought precipitation 53 19 0.6 0.9 5.2 3 18Fe, C, B
hardenable
IN-738 Equiaxed casting 62 16 8.5 3.4 3.4 0.8 1.8 2.6 1.8 C, B, Zr
Rene 142 Directionally solidified 58 6.8 12 6.1 1.5 4.9 6.3 2.8Re, 1.5Hf,
casting C, B, Zr
PWA 1484 Single crystal casting 58 5 10 5.6 1 2 6 9 3Re, Hf
(a) Hastelloy, Inconel, Rene, and PWA are registered trademarks.
Table 2 Melting Points of Iron, Nickel,
Stainless Steel, and Their Oxides
Melting Temperatures
Compound F C
Fe 2798 1538
Fe
2
O
3
2850 1566
Fe
3
O
4
2900 1593
Ni 2650 1454
NiO 3600 1982
304 SS 25502650 13991454
Cr
2
O
3
4100 2260
Fig. 1 Superalloy weld showing several oxide inclusions. Fig. 2 Cracking of nickel sheet (right) due to high levels of sulfur,
heat, and stress. Note HAZ cracking stops where the heat drops to low
levels.
Tillack 1 07:Layout 1 12/11/06 10:32 AM Page 29
JANUARY 2007 30
tions, chosen to produce either a tear-
shaped weld pool or an elliptical weld pool.
This table points out that the shielded
metal arc welding (SMAW) process pro-
duces the most consistent weld pool be-
cause of the nature of the process since
its a manual process, the welder can con-
trol the pool by choosing a reasonable
weave and travel speed based on experi-
ence. In contrast, the gas metal arc weld-
ing (GMAW) process, using the same wire
diameter, can produce either a tear-
shaped or an elliptical weld pool depend-
ing on, primarily, the travel speed. The
submerged arc welding (SAW) process
is similar, but it is seldom used in
aircraft/aerospace applications.
Welding Techniques and Welding Techniques and
Joint Designs Joint Designs
Compared to steel, the superalloys
have two major differences that affect the
weld weld penetration and fluidity of
the molten weld metal. A carbon steel weld
metal flows like water in a groove, but a
superalloy weld metal flows like molasses.
The superalloy weld metal must be manip-
ulated more because of its lower fluidity,
and this requires a modification of the joint
design when compared to carbon steel
joint designs. This is particularly true when
thicker joints are being welded. Included
angles need to be opened up when weld-
ing the superalloys to allow the welder to
weave and dwell the electrode when ma-
nipulating the molten weld metal.
Weld penetration is vastly different
when transitioning from carbon steel to
superalloy welding. Figure 4 shows the dif-
ference in weld penetration when the
same welding conditions volts, amps,
and travel speed are used on carbon
steel, stainless steel, and a superalloy; the
only thing that changed was the base
metal. The carbon steel has a deep pene-
tration pattern, the stainless steel slightly
less, but the superalloy weld penetration
is greatly reduced. This requires us to
modify joint designs when moving from
carbon steel to superalloy welding. Thin-
ner lands and root faces are needed for
superalloys welds in order to obtain com-
plete penetration.
Superalloy Characteristics Superalloy Characteristics
There are some physical conditions
that also influence the welding of the su-
peralloys when compared to carbon steel.
Thermal expansion of the superalloys is
similar to carbon steel, whereas the stain-
less steels have considerably higher ex-
pansion rates than carbon steel. The ther-
mal conductivity of the superalloys is
much less than carbon steel, and the heat
from welding does not disperse into the
surrounding metal as fast when welding
the superalloys. The electrical resistance
of the superalloys is much higher than car-
bon steel, and therefore lower amperages
are needed when welding with superalloy
electrodes. This can be a problem for be-
ginning welders who try to get better burn-
off with their superalloy SMAW elec-
trodes by turning up the amperage. This
is self-defeating, however, because the
electrodes will overheat and often cause
flux spallation problems. Electrodes
should always be operated within the man-
ufacturers recommended ranges.
Porosity is seldom a problem when
welding the chromium-containing super-
alloys; proper gas shielding practice and
good preweld cleaning can assure poros-
ity-free welds. Porosity can be a factor,
however, in rapidly cooled welds, such as
electron beam welding, because of the
rapid solidification rate. When welding al-
loys with high levels of aluminum and/or
titanium, it is often difficult to avoid some
surface oxidation of the weld beads. When
this occurs, light interpass grinding should
be done to avoid incomplete fusion and
oxide entrapment problems.
Preheat is not required when welding
the superalloys, but cold base metal
should be brought up to room tempera-
ture to avoid condensation problems. In-
terpass temperatures should normally be
limited to about 150C (300F).
As with any welding, notches should
Table 3 Different Welding Processes and Parameters and Their Affect on Weld Pool Shape
Condition Process Consumable Voltage Current Travel speed Heat input Probable
Diameter, mm V A mm/min kJ/mm Pool shape
1 SMA 3.2 20 100 180 0.7 Elliptical
2 SMA 4.0 21 145 130 1.4 Elliptical
3 GMA (spray) 1.2 31 320 450 1.3 Teardrop
4 GMA (spray) 1.2 27 240 230 1.7 Elliptical
5 GMA (globular dip) 1.2 23 180 125 2.0 Elliptical
6 SAW 2.4 28 270 250 1.8 Elliptical
7 SAW 2.4 32 370 620 1.1 Teardrop
Fig. 3 Schematic of two weld pool shapes showing the center-
line segregation problem created with a tear-shaped weld pool.
Fig. 4 Comparison of weld penetrations for three alloys.
Tillack 1 07:Layout 1 12/11/06 10:32 AM Page 30
31 WELDING JOURNAL
be avoided and welds should be ground
smoothly to blend with the base metal.
Welding Processes Welding Processes
For most aircraft or aerospace weld-
ing, GTAW is the preferred process be-
cause of its versatility and ability to join
thin structures.
The shielding gases used to weld the su-
peralloys are either straight argon or a mix
of argon and helium. Occasionally, tri-
mixes are used in the GMAW process, but
CO
2
and/or oxygen additions arent as ben-
eficial when welding the superalloys as they
are when welding the stainless steels. When
helium is used, arc voltage for a given arc
length is about 40% greater than with
argon. Therefore, heat input is greater,
which allows faster travel speed. But, arc
initiation is more difficult with helium
below 60 A. Therefore, for small parts and
thin base metal, argon is a better choice.
High-frequency starts and current decay
are recommended for quality GTAW work.
A 2% thoriated tungsten electrode, or
equivalent, is usually used, with a cone angle
of 3060 deg with a small flattened apex.
Alloy Classes Alloy Classes
There are numerous types of superal-
loys with a difference in weldability among
the types. The solid solution alloys are the
easiest to weld because they dont undergo
drastic metallurgical changes when heated
and cooled. Because of their limited
strength, however, they are only used in cer-
tain areas of a gas turbine, such as the com-
bustor. The precipitation-strengthened al-
loys are more demanding during welding
and postwelding because of the precipita-
tion of the hardening phase that usually
contains aluminum, titanium, or niobium.
These elements oxidize very easily and,
therefore, alloys that contain them need
better gas protection during welding. A
third type of superalloy is the mechanically
alloyed materials that cannot be welded
without suffering a drastic drop in strength.
These alloys are usually joined by mechan-
ical means or diffusion bonding.
In addition to those elements that en-
able a superalloy to undergo precipitation
hardening, such as aluminum, titanium,
and niobium, other elements are added
to enhance mechanical properties or cor-
rosion resistance. These include boron
and zirconium, which are often intention-
ally added to some alloys to improve high-
temperature performance but at a cost to
weldability. There are numerous other el-
ements that are not intentionally added
but can be present in very small quanti-
ties that are harmful, such as lead and zinc.
These are practically insoluble in super-
alloys and can cause hot cracking during
solidification of the welds. Small quanti-
ties of these elements on the surface of a
metal can cause localized weld cracking.
Sulfur is considered detrimental if pres-
ent in too large a quantity, but can cause
low weld penetration problems if present
in very low amounts.
Influence of Structure Influence of Structure
Another way to classify the superalloys
is by structure, such as wrought or cast.
There are several ways to cast these ma-
terials, including polycrystalline
(equiaxed), directionally solidified, or sin-
gle crystal. Most static (nonrotating) cast
parts in gas turbine engines are polycrys-
talline, while many of the rotating parts
are either directionally solidified or sin-
gle crystal. During elevated temperature
exposure, grain boundaries are normally
the weakest areas of a metallic structure.
Directionally solidified components min-
imize grain boundaries that are transverse
to the stress direction, thus improving the
strength in that direction. Single crystals
solve the grain boundary problem by elim-
inating them entirely. While these ap-
proaches are helpful in improving ele-
vated temperature strength, they drasti-
cally reduce weldability because tradi-
tional welding processes cause recrystal-
lization and the introduction of random
grain boundaries.
Most Successful Alloy Most Successful Alloy
The most commonly used alloy in a
modern aero gas turbine engine is Alloy
718 (e.g., Inconel Alloy 718), a precipi-
tation-hardened nickel alloy. Typically,
more than 25% of the engine weight is of
this alloy, primarily as sheet, forged rounds,
and castings. Introduced in 1959, it remains
the most successful aerospace superalloy
ever invented. It owes its success to a com-
bination of high strength and excellent
weldability. Prior to its invention, precipi-
tation-hardened alloys were strengthened
by either aluminum and/or titanium com-
pounds, which underwent a rapid precipi-
tation during exposure to the intermediate
temperature range. This rapid reaction
caused welding and repair welding to be
very difficult to achieve without weld-
associated cracking. The introduction of
niobium as the primary hardening element
resulted in a much slower precipitation
time, which drastically improved weldabil-
ity and repairability. The sluggish nature
of the nickel-niobium precipitation reac-
tion allows more time for the alloy to
achieve the desired hardness level.
Potential Welding Potential Welding
Problems Problems
The precipitation-hardened superalloys
can undergo several types of weld-associ-
ated liquid-state or solid-state cracking.
Fig. 5 Examples of microfissuring in the HAZ of a superalloy (cour-
tesy of John Sanders, Babcock & Wilcox Co., Alliance, Ohio).
Fig. 6 Influence of Al and Ti on strain-age cracking of superalloys
(courtesy of John Sanders, Babcock & Wilcox Co., Alliance, Ohio).
-750
Tillack 1 07:Layout 1 12/11/06 10:32 AM Page 31
JANUARY 2007 32
The primary liquid-state cracking is in
the heat-affected zone (HAZ), also
known as microfissuring or liquation
cracking. This type of cracking, an exam-
ple of which is shown in Fig. 5, occurs dur-
ing welding primarily in the grain bound-
aries near the weld interface. In general,
large grain size is detrimental and cast
structures are more susceptible than
wrought structures. High levels of boron,
zirconium, sulfur, and carbon are usually
detrimental. Low-melting intergranular
films, which have little capability to resist
the stresses imposed during the cooling
portion of the weld thermal cycle, are the
primary cause of this type of cracking.
The primary solid-state cracking mech-
anism is strain-age cracking, also known
as postweld heat treatment (PWHT)
stress relaxation cracking. This type of
cracking occurs after welding, usually dur-
ing the precipitation hardening heat treat-
ment. Strain-age cracking susceptibility
depends heavily of the type of precipitate,
with the niobium-hardened alloys, such as
Alloy 718, being more resistant. The al-
loys hardened by aluminum/titanium are
very prone to this type of cracking because
of their rapid precipitation of the harden-
ing phase. Figure 6 shows a plot of strain-
age cracking susceptibility related to alu-
minum and titanium contents. Alloy 718,
with very little aluminum and titanium, is
shown in the lower-left portion of the di-
agram. Strain-age cracking occurs when
the combination of stresses exceed the
strength of the material. These stresses
include the residual welding stresses,
stresses associated with the precipitation
reaction, and other fabrication stresses.
Some techniques to avoid postweld
heat treatment cracking (strain-age crack-
ing) include welding the material in the
annealed condition, heating rapidly dur-
ing postweld heat treating, using inert at-
mospheres during heat treatment, and
overaging the material prior to welding.
An important factor in avoiding weld-
associated cracking in the superalloys is
to avoid excessive stress, both during weld-
ing and during postweld heat treatment.
This is often difficult to do, especially
when heavy restraint is involved.
Repair Welding Repair Welding
Most precipitation-hardened wrought
superalloys should be annealed or solu-
tion treated prior to repair welding. After
repair welding, they should be re-
annealed and then precipitation hard-
ened. Some alloys, such as Alloy 718, may
be repair welded and directly precipita-
tion hardened without a re-anneal, de-
pending on the stress level of the compo-
nent. Sheet components can often be re-
pair welded in this manner because of
their ability to more easily tolerate fabri-
cation stresses.
The repair welding of castings presents
a different situation because of the inher-
ent low ductility of castings and their more
highly alloyed compositions. When tur-
bine blades and vanes need to be repair
welded, their unique structures present
unique challenges.
Most polycrystalline casting repairs are
done by GTAW, but brazing, diffusion
bonding, laser, and electron beam meth-
ods can also be used. The repair technique
is fairly straightforward since there are no
issues regarding grain orientation with
which to deal. Since these castings are usu-
ally used in nonrotating components, they
are less critical.
Directionally solidified (DS) and single
crystal (SC) castings, often used in gas tur-
bine blade and vane applications, require
special considerations when weld repairs
are contemplated. Since these alloys de-
pend on strict grain orientation, in the case
of the DS alloys, or no grain boundaries,
in the case of the SC alloys, welding with
traditional methods often is not possible
because of the degradation of the crystal
structure (in the case of DS components)
or the undesirable creation of spurious
grains (in the case of SC parts). GTAW is
often used in low-stress areas in limited
portions of the blade, where changes to the
grain structure are tolerable.
A promising development for the re-
pair of cracks and for the building-up of
worn areas is laser powder deposition. A
laser is programmed to deposit a con-
trolled amount of molten powder in a spe-
cific pattern, causing limited disruption
to the base material. While not suitable
for in situ welding, it has the potential to
be of great benefit for the repair of tur-
bine blades.
Summary Summary
Superalloys are used in critical compo-
nents of aircraft and aerospace structures
because of their outstanding environmen-
tal resistance and high strength. The weld-
ing and repair welding of these alloys is
done routinely and can be done successfully
if some basic principles are observed.
Acknowledgment
The Nickel Institute, www.nickelinsti-
tute.org, provided support for this article.
Visit the Web site for free literature.
Recommended Reading
AWS G2.1M/G2.1:2002,Guide for the
Joining of Wrought Nickel-Based Alloys.
American Welding Society, Miami, Fla.,
www.aws.org.
Circle No. 14 on Reader Info-Card
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