Cracking and Precipitation Behavior of Refractory BCC–B2 Alloys Under Laser Melting Conditions

Emulating the Ni-base superalloy \(\gamma \) + \(\gamma ^{\prime }\) microstructure in BCC–B2 refractory alloys is a promising design strategy to achieve high temperature strength and ductility. Ru-base B2 precipitates have shown exceptional thermal stability but can be difficult to solutionize, making high cooling rate solidification pathways like additive manufacturing (AM) a promising approach for synthesis of more homogeneous microstructures. Using single track laser experiments on aged bulk substrates, five representative refractory alloys with varying Ru-base B2 precipitates (AlRu, HfRu, TiRu) and matrix constituents (Mo, Nb) were investigated for their solidification behavior and defect susceptibility under laser melting conditions. Susceptibility to solidification cracking, solid-state cracking, and keyhole formation was found to be highly dependent on the matrix composition. Characterization of the melt pools by scanning and transmission electron microscopy shows evidence for disordered BCC upon solidification, enabling tailoring of the B2 precipitates that are thermodynamically stable above 1300 °C. The B2 precipitate morphologies in the melt tracks after aging treatments are influenced by the partitioning behavior of Ru from laser melting. Results from these single track experiments provide guidance toward design strategies for fabricable refractory BCC–B2 alloys.