Abstract:Cylindrical samples of Ni-based GH4037 alloy were compressed at solid temperatures (1200, 1250 and 1300 °C) and semi-solid temperatures (1340, 1350, 1360, 1370 and 1380 °C) with different strain rates of 0.01, 0.1 and 1 s^-1. High temperature deformation behavior and microstructure evolution of GH4037 alloy were investigated. The results indicated that flow stress decreased rapidly at semi-solid temperatures compared to that at solid temperatures. Besides, the flow stress continued to increase after reaching the initial peak stress at semi-solid temperatures when the strain rate was 1 s^-1. With increasing the deformation temperature, the size of initial solid grains and recrystallized grains increased. At semi-solid temperatures, the grains were equiaxed, and liquid phase existed at the grain boundaries and inside the grains. Discontinuous dynamic recrystallization (DDRX) characterized by grain boundary bulging was the main nucleation mechanism for GH4037 alloy.

Key words: nickel-based superalloy; high temperature deformation; semi-solid; microstructure evolution; dynamic recrystallization