20th International Forgemasters Meeting - IFM 2017

For many years Saarschmiede has focused on the development of large remelted Ni-based alloy forgings typically used for research and development projects in the field of the power generation industry and for the nuclear industry too. Across these industrial sectors, there is a drive towards larger forgings with consistent mechanical properties, low levels of chemical segregation, more complex alloy chemistries and high requirements on the ultrasonic testability too. In light of this, Saarschmiede has focused on improving the maximum ingot sizes, ingot yield, hot working processes and also the heat treatment cycles to meet the requirements of these highly regulated industries. Over the last three years Saarschmiede has manufactured several large disc and ring forgings from Alloy 600 with a maximum forging weight of approximately 30 tons. These forgings were manufactured from several ESR ingots with a diameter of 1300 mm. The maximal ingot weight that has been produced for a single ingot was 70 to. This is accordingly to our knowledge the worldwide biggest ingot in this grade ever produced. This paper will discuss the manufacturing route, the mechanical properties, the microstructure, and the Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) for these disc and rings. It will also include a customer perspective on product quality.