Repair of Precision Castings Made of the Inconel 713C Alloy

Inconel 713C precision castings are used as aircraft engine components exposed to high temperatures and the aggressive exhaust gas environment. Industrial experience has shown that precision-cast components of such complexity contain casting defects like microshrinkage, porosity, and cracks. This necessitates the development of repair technologies for castings of this type. This paper presents the results of metallographic examinations of melted areas and clad welds on the Inconel 713C nickel-based superalloy, made by TIG, plasma arc, and laser. The cladding process was carried out on model test plates in order to determine the technological and material-related problems connected with the weldability of Inconel 713C. The studies included analyses of the macro- and microstructure of the clad welds, the base materials, and the heat-affected zones. The results of the structural analyses of the clad welds indicate that Inconel 713C should be classified as a low-weldability material. In the clad welds made by laser, cracks were identified mainly in the heat-affected zone and at the melted zone interface, crystals were formed on partially-melted grains. Cracks of this type were not identified in the clad welds made using the plasma-arc method. It has been concluded that due to the possibility of manual cladding and the absence of welding imperfections, the technology having the greatest potential for application is plasma-arc cladding.