The partitioning and site preference of rhenium or ruthenium in model nickel-based superalloys: An atom-probe tomographic and first-principles study

The partitioning behavior and sublattice site preference of Re or Ru in the Ni3Al (L12) γ′- precipitates of model Ni–Al–Cr alloys are investigated by atom-probe tomography (APT) and first-principles calculations. Rhenium and Ru are experimentally observed to partition to the γ(fcc)-phase, which is consistent with the smaller values of the γ-matrix Re and Ru substitutional formation energies determined by first-principles calculations. APT measurements of the γ′-precipitate composition indicate that Re and Ru occupy the Al sublattice sites of the Ni3Al (L12) phase. The preferential site substitution of Re and Ru at Al sublattice sites is confirmed by first-principles calculations.