To improve the understanding of high temperature mechanical behaviours of LPBF Ni-based superalloys, this work investigates the influence of an elongated grain structure and characteristic crystallographic texture on the anisotropic tensile behaviours in LPBF Hastelloy X (HX) at 700 °C. Two types of loading conditions have been examined to analyse the anisotropy related to the building direction (BD), including the vertical loading (loading direction//BD) and the horizontal loading (loading direction ⊥ BD). To probe the short-term creep behaviours, slow strain rate tensile testing (SSRT) has been applied to address the strain rate dependent inelastic strain accumulation. In-situ time-of-flight neutron diffraction upon loading was performed to track the anisotropic lattice strain evolution in the elastic region and the texture evolution in the plastic region. Combined with the post microstructure and fracture analysis, the anisotropic mechanical behaviours are well correlated with the different microstructural responses between vertical and horizontal loading and the different strain rates. A better creep performance is expected in the vertical direction with the consideration of the better ductility and the higher level of texture evolution.

Funding agencies: Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems (Vinnova) [2016-05175]; AFM at Linkoping University; Centre for Additive Manufacturing-metal (CAM2); Science and Technology Facilities Council [2016-05175]; [2009-00971]; [RB2010043]