Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
The cooling rates during solidification of gas atomized Stellite 6 (S6) powders range from 103 K/s to 106 K/s for 400μm to 10 μm diameter powder particles respectively. The microstructures vary from equiaxed type in the coarser particles to fully dendritic, cellular and microcrystalline in the finer particles. In the case of melt spun ribbons, the variations in freezing rate along a cross section of the ribbon produce a change in the microstructure from microcrystalline at cooling rates greater than 107 K/s to cellular and finally dendritic at rates on the order of 106 K/s.