Modeling of grain selection during directional solidification of single crystal superalloy turbine blade castings

Single crystal superalloy turbine blades are currently widely used as key components in gas turbine engines. The single crystal turbine blade casting’s properties are quite sensitive to the grain orientation determined directly by the grain selector geometry of the casting, A mathematical model was proposed for the grain selection during directional solidification of turbine blade casting. Based on heat transfer modeling of the directional withdrawing process, the competitive grain growth within the starter block and the spiral of the grain selector were simulated by using the cellular automaton method (CA). Validation experiments were carried out, and the measured results were compared quantitatively with the predicted results. The model could be used to predict the grain morphology and the competitive grain evolution during solidification, together with the distribution of grain orientation of primary <001> dendrite growth direction, with respect to the longitudinal axis of the turbine blade casting.