L’Inconel 738 est un superalliage base nickel utilisé dans les turbines de moteurs aéronautiques. Le soudage engendre souvent l’apparition de fissures, ce qui constitue un handicap pour ce matériau car on ne peut ni le réparer par rechargement, ni concevoir de pièces assemblées par soudage. L'objectif de la thèse est de définir les conditions de soudage de ce superalliage, de manière à exclure tout risque de fissuration à la suite d’opérations de rechargement, de réparation ou d'assemblage par soudage.Une étude expérimentale a tout d’abord permis de comprendre et de relier les mécanismes de fissuration aux paramètres opératoires du procédé (intensité, tension…). Puis un modèle de simulation numérique du soudage a été développé sur la base d’un couplage entre aspects thermiques, métallurgiques et mécaniques. La corrélation entre les résultats expérimentaux et numériques a permis de déterminer des critères de fissuration pour ce superalliage et d’optimiser les paramètres de soudage. / Abstract

Inconel 738, which is a nickel base superalloy used for hot section components of aircraft and industrial turbines is difficult to fabricate and repair by fusion welding due to its susceptibility to heat affected zone (HAZ) intergranular cracking. Crack-free joining of the difficult-to-weld alloy is currently achieved by using linear friction welding (LFW). Nevertheless, oxidation along the joint during LFW is a major problem. Information about the effect of process parameters on the microstructural evolution of linear friction welded nickel base alloys is very limited. In this work, the effect of forging pressure on the microstructure of linear friction welded Inconel 738 was studied. The results as elucidated in this work showed that increased forging pressure caused strain-induced rapid solidification of metastable liquid, which resulted in complete elimination of deleterious liquid phase oxides in bonded material contrasting the generally accepted view that assumes extrusion of solid state oxides during LFW.

Inconel 738, which is a nickel base superalloy used for hot section components of aircraft and industrial turbines is difficult to fabricate and repair by fusion welding due to its susceptibility to heat affected zone (HAZ) intergranular cracking. Crack-free joining of the difficult-to-weld alloy is currently achieved by using linear friction welding (LFW). Nevertheless, oxidation along the joint during LFW is a major problem. Information about the effect of process parameters on the microstructural evolution of linear friction welded nickel base alloys is very limited. In this work, the effect of forging pressure on the microstructure of linear friction welded Inconel 738 was studied. The results as elucidated in this work showed that increased forging pressure caused strain-induced rapid solidification of metastable liquid, which resulted in complete elimination of deleterious liquid phase oxides in bonded material contrasting the generally accepted view that assumes extrusion of solid state oxides during LFW.