Effect of hot isostatic pressing on microstructure of cast gas-turbine vanes of K452 alloy

The effect of hot isostatic pressing (HIP) treatment on microstructure of gas-turbine vanes made of K452 alloy was investigated by OM, SEM and TEM. The results showed that HIP treatment played a great role in the porosity healing processing, where 80% of porosities were eliminated and the diameter of remnant porosities decreased to 10 μm. The healing mechanism of the porosities was consistent with existing theories of porosity closure based on vacancy diffusion. According to the result of the tensile test, the plasticity of the alloy was improved as the result of the elimination of the porosities and the improvement of dendritic segregation, while there was not an obvious improvement in the tensile strength after the programmed HIP process. In addition, HIP had a positive effect on narrowing down the dispersion of tensile properties.