| Summary: | Inconel 718 joints were fabricated using the pulsating direct current gas tungsten arc welding (PDCGTAW) and laser-arc hybrid welding (LAHW) techniques using Ni-Cr-Mo-rich filler. A cyclic post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) comprising 980 °C/20 min/air cooling; followed by two-stage ageing 720 °C/8 h/furnace cooling and 620 °C/8 h/air cooling was performed on both joints. The liquation cracking was noticed on the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of the LAHW joints. Microstructural characteristics were assessed on the joints in both as-welded (ASW) and PWHT conditions. Regardless of the joints, the coarse Mo-rich segregates were noticed in the fusion zone (FZ) in the ASW conditions. On the contrary, the partial dissolution of MC, precipitation of δ-Ni3Nb needles and the coarsening of strengthening precipitates were observed on LAHW and PDCGTAW joints after subjecting to cyclic PWHT respectively. Tensile studies corroborated that there is a considerable enhancement in the tensile and 0.2% offset yield strengths of LAHW joints after being exposed to PWHT, despite the formation of HAZ liquation cracking.
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