Effects of Cu addition and heat treatment on the microstructure and hardness of pure Ti prepared by Selective laser melting (SLM)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Materials Engineering, Imam Khomeini International University (IKIU), Qazvin, 3414896818, Iran.

2 Department of Materials Engineering, Imam Khomeini International University (IKIU), Qazvin, 3414896818, Iran;

3 Department of Management and Production Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, 10129, Italy.

4 Department of Materials Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology (IUT), Isfahan, 8415683111, Iran.

10.22059/jufgnsm.2023.02.10

Abstract

Formation of strong texture, columnar grains, and chemical inhomogeneity are some of the serious challenges associated with SLM of metallic alloys. This paper deals with in-situ SLM manufacturing of Ti-5Cu (wt.%) samples from pure Ti and Cu powders at a constant volumetric energy density (VED) of 50.26 J/mm3. The heat treatment of samples was carried out by heating at 1050 °C (above the β-transus temperature) for 3hr followed by furnace cooling. Then the effects of Cu addition to pure Ti and heat treatment on β-columnar to equiaxed transition (CET) morphology and size of the α phase as well as microhardness of pure Ti and Ti-5Cu samples were investigated. The results showed that the β columnar grains with an average equivalent diameter (deq) of 80 μm in SLMed pure Ti were effectively converted to equiaxed grains with an average deq of ~15 μm in the SLMed Ti-5Cu samples. The Cu addition increased the average microhardness from ~290 HV for pure Ti to ~415 HV for Ti-5Cu samples. This was attributed to the formation of equiaxed grains, increased lattice micro-strain resulting from Cu addition and decreased size of the lath-like α phase. The applied heat treatment led to the formation of equiaxed β grains with an average diameter of ~125 μm, dissolution of unmelted titanium particles and the non-dissolution zones of Cu and Ti, and a rather homogeneous structure in Ti-5Cu samples. It also resulted in the decomposition of α´ martensitic structure and the formation of different morphologies of Ti2Cu precipitates. Reduction of the average microhardness of the Ti-5Cu samples to ~312 HV after heat treatment was also related to the increase in deq of the equiaxed β grains, in addition to the increase in the size of the α laths phase and decrease in micro-strain.

Keywords

References

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Journal of Ultrafine Grained and Nanostructured Materials
Volume 56, Issue 2
December 2023
Pages 213-223

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History

  • Receive Date: 01 December 2023
  • Revise Date: 13 December 2023
  • Accept Date: 14 December 2023

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