Research Progress in the Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing for Fabricating Ni-based Superalloys

SUN Jing; WANG Jie; JIANG Xiao; WANG Chaoyue; YIN Ying; ZHANG Ying; YIN Yuhuan

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1674-6457.2026.06.014

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Journal of Netshape Forming Engineering ›› 2026, Vol. 18 ›› Issue (6) : 151-170. DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-6457.2026.06.014

Additive Manufacturing

Research Progress in the Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing for Fabricating Ni-based Superalloys

SUN Jing^*, WANG Jie, JIANG Xiao, WANG Chaoyue, YIN Ying, ZHANG Ying, YIN Yuhuan

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Abstract

The EBM (electron beam additive manufacturing, EBM) manufacturing of Ni-based superalloys has a promising application prospect in the rapid manufacturing of engine parts. Based on a plenty of literature analysis, to address the cracking problem of nickel-based superalloys fabricated by EBM, the work aims to review the mechanism and impact factors for cracking from the perspectives of component microstructure evolution and elemental segregation behavior and conduct targeted research on crack suppression measures and their effects for EBM-fabricated nickel-based superalloy components in terms of post-heat treatment, microstructure optimization, and composition regulation. EBM-fabricated nickel-based superalloy components exhibited a prominent growth tendency of coarse columnar grains along the building height direction. Cracks mostly initiated at the γ/γ′ interfaces on columnar grain boundaries and rapidly propagated along high-angle grain boundaries. Obvious segregation of elements such as B, Hf and Zr was observed on both sides of the cracks. Further analysis revealed that a nano-amorphous layer existed at the interface between M₂B metallic compounds and the γ′ phase, which fully verified that the cracks in additively manufactured nickel-based superalloy components were predominantly hot cracks. Then, HIP treatment could effectively decrease pores and micro-cracks, but the temperature must exceed the γ′ solvent temperature and thermal cracks would regenerate during the subsequent solution treatment process. Optimizing the scanning strategy or in-situ heat-treatment could promote the transformation of coarse columnar into equiaxed crystals, and additionally, composition regulation could effectively reduce the solidification temperature range, all of which had certain effects on suppressing hot cracking. The research results can further promote the application of EBM for nickel-based superalloys in the aerospace field.

Key words

Ni-based superalloy / electron beam additive manufacturing / microstructure evolution / cracking mechanism / heat treatment / failure mode

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SUN Jing, WANG Jie, JIANG Xiao, WANG Chaoyue, YIN Ying, ZHANG Ying, YIN Yuhuan. Research Progress in the Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing for Fabricating Ni-based Superalloys[J]. Journal of Netshape Forming Engineering. 2026, 18(6): 151-170 https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1674-6457.2026.06.014

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