Microstructure Evolution of Rapid Solidified Invar Alloy

Invar alloy has a wide range of applications in aerospace and precision instruments. However, the microstructure evolution during rapid solidification is not yet fully understood. In this study, the rapid solidification microstructure of Invar alloy with undercooling ranging from 5 K to 231 K was investigated using optical microscopy, EBSD, and TEM techniques. The results show that, as the undercooling increased from 5 K to 181 K, the microstructure transitioned from large dendrites to columnar grains and finally to small equiaxed grains. When the undercooling ranged from 181 K to 193 K, the grain size suddenly increased before continuing to decrease with further undercooling. EBSD analysis revealed that, for ΔT > 181 K, two distinct types of grains appeared in the microstructure: one larger and the other much smaller. Under low undercooling conditions, the grains grew anisotropically with a preferred orientation, while under high undercooling, there was no apparent preferred growth orientation. Many twin boundaries were observed in the high-undercooling samples, which were further confirmed by TEM analysis. Additionally, both twin boundaries and high-angle grain boundaries increased gradually with undercooling.