The influence of W on the temporal evolution of γ′
precipitation toward equilibrium in a model Ni-Al-Cr alloy is
investigated by three-dimensional atom-probe (3DAP) microscopy and
transmission electron microscopy (TEM). We report on the alloys Ni-10
Al-8.5 Cr (at.%) and Ni-10 Al-8.5 Cr-2 W (at.%), which were aged
isothermally in the γ + γ′ two-phase field at 1073 K, for
times ranging from 0.25 to 264 h. Spheroidal-shaped γ′
precipitates, 5–15 nm diameter, form during quenching from above
the solvus temperature in both alloys at a high number density
(∼1023 m−3). As γ′
precipitates grow with aging at 1073 K, a transition from spheriodal-
to cuboidal-shaped precipitates is observed in both alloys. The
elemental partitioning and spatially resolved concentration profiles
across the γ′ precipitates are obtained as a function of
aging time from three-dimensional atom-by-atom reconstructions.
Proximity histogram concentration profiles (Hellman
et al., 2000) of the quaternary alloy demonstrate that W
concentration gradients exist in γ′ precipitates in the
as-quenched and 0.25-h aging states, which disappear after 1 h of
aging. The diffusion coefficient of W in γ′ is estimated to
be 6.2 × 10−20 m2
s−1 at 1073 K. The W addition decreases the coarsening
rate constant, and leads to stronger partitioning of Al to γ′
and Cr to γ.