Mechanical Assessment of a LPBF Nickel Superalloy Using the Small Punch Test Method

With the continuous drive of the aerospace industry to introduce Additive Layer Manufacturing (ALM) into next generation gas turbine engines, the requirement to understand their mechanical performance has grown. However, limitations in material availability due to the nature of the process can restrict the scope for conventional mechanical testing. The Small Punch Tensile (SPT) test provides an effective tool for ranking the performance of ALM processed alloys, credited to the small volumes of material utilised and the ability to sample localised regions. This technique has been applied to the nickel superalloy C263, manufactured via Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) in different build orientations and subjected to contrasting post process heat treatments. To fully understand the effects of these process variables on the mechanical response of LPBF alloys, empirical correlations have been derived between SPT and uniaxial data attempting to demonstrate the suitability of this approach in characterising the properties of ALM structures.