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In situ scanning electron microscopy was performed during elevated-temperature (ഛ760°C) tensile-creep deformation of a face-centered-cubic cobalt-based Udimet 188 alloy to characterize the deformation evolution and, in particular, the grain boundary-cracking evolution. In situ electron backscatter diffraction observations combined with in situ secondary electron imaging indicated that general high-angle grain boundaries were more susceptible to cracking than low-angle grain boundaries and coincident site-lattice boundaries. The extent of general high-angle grain-boundary cracking increased with increasing creep time. Grain-boundary cracking was also observed throughout subsurface locations as observed for postdeformed samples. The electron backscattered diffraction orientation mapping performed during in situ tensile-creep deformation proved to be a powerful means for characterizing the surface deformation evolution and in particular for quantifying the types of grain boundaries that preferentially cracked.

Udimet 188 was subjected to thermomechanical processing (TMP) in an attempt to understand the effects of cold-rolling deformation on the microstructure and tensile-creep behavior. Commercially available sheet was cold rolled to varying amounts of deformation (between 5-35% reduction in sheet thickness) followed by a solution treatment at 1,464 K (1,191 °C) for 1 h and subsequent air cooling. This sequence was repeated four times to induce a high-volume fraction of low-energy grain boundaries. The resultant microstructure was characterized using electron backscattered diffraction. The effect of the TMP treatment on the high-temperature [1,033-1,088 K (760-815 °C)] creep behavior was evaluated. The measured creep stress exponents (6.0-6.8) suggested that dislocation creep was dominant at 1,033 K (760 °C) for stresses ranging between 100-220 MPa. For stresses ranging between 25-100 MPa at 1,033 K (760 °C), the stress exponents (2.3-2.8) suggested grain boundary sliding was dominant. A significant amount of grain boundary cracking was observed both on the surface and subsurface of deformed samples. To assess the mechanisms of crack nucleation, in situ scanning electron microscopy was performed during the elevated-temperature tensile-creep deformation. Cracking occurred preferentially along general high-angle grain boundaries (GHAB) and less than 25% of the cracks were found on low-angle grain boundaries (LAB) and coincident site lattice boundaries (CSLB). Creep rupture experiments were performed at T = 1,088 K (815 °C) and σ = 165 MPa and the greatest average time-to-rupture was exhibited by the TMP sheet with the greatest fraction of LAB+CSLB. However, a clear correlation was not exhibited between the grain boundary character distribution and the minimum creep rates. The findings of this work suggest that although grain boundary engineering may be possible for this alloy, simply relating the fraction of grain boundary types to the creep resistance is not sufficient.

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