The United States of America As Represented by the Administrator of the

Eugene C McKannan

Shaffiq Ahmed

Deborah D Schmidt

Shirley S Chandler

William B McPherson

Robert W Bond

A method is provided for obtaining an alloy having an ordered microstructure which comprises the steps of heating the central portion of the alloy under uniform temperature so that it enters a liquid phase while the outer portions remain solid, applying a constant electric current through the alloy during the heating step, and solidifying the liquid central portion of the alloy by subjecting it to a temperature-gradient zone so that cooling occurs in a directional manner and at a given rate of speed while maintaining the application of the constant electric current through the alloy. The method is particularly suitable for use with nickel-based superalloys. The method of the present invention produces an alloy having superior characteristics such as reduced segregation. After subsequent precipitation by heat-treatment, the alloys produced by the present invention will have excellent strength and high-temperature resistance.

Directional solidification processing of alloys using an applied

A nickel-based superalloy is provided which is resistant to deterioration in hydrogen at high operating temperatures and pressures, and which thus can be used in hydrogen-fueled spacecraft such as the Space Shuttle. The superalloy is characterized by a two-phase microstructure and consists of a gamma-prime precipitated phase in a gamma matrix. The gamma matrix phase is a primary solid solution and the gamma precipitated phase will be an intermetallic compound of the type A.sub.3 B, such as nickel aluminide or titanide. Both phases are coherent, ordered, and compatible, and thus will retain most of their strength at elevated temperatures. The alloy consists essentially of (by weight):

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Huntsville, AL, United States of America

Eugene C McKannan