Finite element modeling of the residual stress evolution in forged and direct-aged alloy 718 turbine disks during manufacturing and its experimental validation

In this work the evolution of the residual stress field in a forged and heat treated turbine disk of Alloy 718 and its subsequent relaxation during machining was simulated and measured. After forging at around 1000 °C the disks were natural air cooled to room temperature and direct aged in a furnace at 720 °C for 8 hours and at 620 °C for 8 hours. The machining of the Alloy 718 turbine disk was performed in two steps: The machining of the Alloy 718 turbine disk was performed in two steps: First, from the forging contour to a contour used for ultra-sonic testing. Second, from the latter to the final contour. The thermal boundary conditions in the finite element model for air cooling and furnace heating were estimated based on analytical equations from literature. A constitutive model developed for the unified description of rate dependent and rate independent mechanical material behavior of Alloy 718 under in-service conditions up to temperatures of 1000 °C was extended and parametrized to meet the manufacturing conditions with temperatures up to 1000 °C. The results of the finite element model were validated with measurements on real-scale turbine disks. The thermal boundary conditions were validated in-field with measured cooling curves. For that purpose holes were drilled at different positions into the turbine disk and thermocouples were mounted in these holes to record the time-temperature curves during natural cooling and heating. The simulated residual stresses were validated by using the hole drilling method and the neutron diffraction technique. The accuracy of the finite element model for the final manufacturing step investigated was ±50 MPa.