Influence of heat treatment on microstructure,mechanical and corrosion behavior of WE43 alloy fabricated by laser-beam powder bed fusion

Magnesium(Mg)alloys are considered to be a new generation of revolutionary medical metals.Laser-beam powder bed fusion(PBF-LB)is suitable for fabricating metal implants withpersonalized and complicated structures.However,the as-built part usually exhibits undesirable microstructure and unsatisfactory performance.In this work,WE43 parts were firstly fabricated by PBF-LB and then subjected to heat treatment.Although a high densification rate of 99.91%was achieved using suitable processes,the as-built parts exhibited anisotropic and layeredmicrostructure with heterogeneously precipitated Nd-rich intermetallic.After heat treatment,fine and nano-scaled Mg24Y5particles were precipitated.Meanwhile,theα-Mg grainsunderwent recrystallization and turned coarsened slightly,which effectively weakened thetexture intensity and reduced the anisotropy.As a consequence,the yield strength and ultimate tensile strength were significantly improved to(250.2±3.5)MPa and(312±3.7)MPa,respectively,while the elongation was still maintained at a high level of 15.2%.Furthermore,the homogenized microstructure reduced the tendency of localized corrosion and favoredthe development of uniform passivation film.Thus,the degradation rate of WE43 parts was decreased by an order of magnitude.Besides,in-vitro cell experiments proved their favorable biocompatibility.

Alloy design for laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing:a critical review

Metal additive manufacturing(AM)has been extensively studied in recent decades.Despite the significant progress achieved in manufacturing complex shapes and structures,challenges such as severe cracking when using existing alloys for laser powder bed fusion(L-PBF)AM have persisted.These challenges arise because commercial alloys are primarily designed for conventional casting or forging processes,overlooking the fast cooling rates,steep temperature gradients and multiple thermal cycles of L-PBF.To address this,there is an urgent need to develop novel alloys specifically tailored for L-PBF technologies.This review provides a comprehensive summary of the strategies employed in alloy design for L-PBF.It aims to guide future research on designing novel alloys dedicated to L-PBF instead of adapting existing alloys.The review begins by discussing the features of the L-PBF processes,focusing on rapid solidification and intrinsic heat treatment.Next,the printability of the four main existing alloys(Fe-,Ni-,Al-and Ti-based alloys)is critically assessed,with a comparison of their conventional weldability.It was found that the weldability criteria are not always applicable in estimating printability.Furthermore,the review presents recent advances in alloy development and associated strategies,categorizing them into crack mitigation-oriented,microstructure manipulation-oriented and machine learning-assisted approaches.Lastly,an outlook and suggestions are given to highlight the issues that need to be addressed in future work.

Influence of layer thickness on formation quality,microstructure,mechanical properties,and corrosion resistance of WE43 magnesium alloy fabricated by laser powder bed fusion

Laser powder bed fusion(L-PBF)of Mg alloys has provided tremendous opportunities for customized production of aeronautical and medical parts.Layer thickness(LT)is of great significance to the L-PBF process but has not been studied for Mg alloys.In this study,WE43 Mg alloy bulk cubes,porous scaffolds,and thin walls with layer thicknesses of 10,20,30,and 40μm were fabricated.The required laser energy input increased with increasing layer thickness and was different for the bulk cubes and porous scaffolds.Porosity tended to occur at the connection joints in porous scaffolds for LT40 and could be eliminated by reducing the laser energy input.For thin wall parts,a large overhang angle or a small wall thickness resulted in porosity when a large layer thicknesses was used,and the porosity disappeared by reducing the layer thickness or laser energy input.A deeper keyhole penetration was found in all occasions with porosity,explaining the influence of layer thickness,geometrical structure,and laser energy input on the porosity.All the samples achieved a high fusion quality with a relative density of over 99.5%using the optimized laser energy input.The increased layer thickness resulted to more precipitation phases,finer grain sizes and decreased grain texture.With the similar high fusion quality,the tensile strength and elongation of bulk samples were significantly improved from 257 MPa and 1.41%with the 10μm layer to 287 MPa and 15.12%with the 40μm layer,in accordance with the microstructural change.The effect of layer thickness on the compressive properties of porous scaffolds was limited.However,the corrosion rate of bulk samples accelerated with increasing the layer thickness,mainly attributed to the increased number of precipitation phases.

Microstructure evolution and strengthening mechanism of high -performance powder metallurgy TA15 titanium alloy by hot rolling

Hot deformation of sintered billets by powder metallurgy(PM)is an effective preparation technique for titanium alloys,which is more significant for high-alloying alloys.In this study,Ti–6.5Al–2Zr–Mo–V(TA15)titanium alloy plates were prepared by cold press-ing sintering combined with high-temperature hot rolling.The microstructure and mechanical properties under different process paramet-ers were investigated.Optical microscope,electron backscatter diffraction,and others were applied to characterize the microstructure evolution and mechanical properties strengthening mechanism.The results showed that the chemical compositions were uniformly dif-fused without segregation during sintering,and the closing of the matrix craters was accelerated by increasing the sintering temperature.The block was hot rolled at 1200℃ with an 80%reduction under only two passes without annealing.The strength and elongation of the plate at 20–25℃ after solution and aging were 1247 MPa and 14.0%,respectively,which were increased by 24.5%and 40.0%,respect-ively,compared with the as-sintered alloy at 1300℃.The microstructure was significantly refined by continuous dynamic recrystalliza-tion,which was completed by the rotation and dislocation absorption of the substructure surrounded by low-angle grain boundaries.After hot rolling combined with heat treatment,the strength and plasticity of PM-TA15 were significantly improved,which resulted from the dense,uniform,and fine recrystallization structure and the synergistic effect of multiple slip systems.

Microstructure and thermal properties of dissimilar M300–CuCr1Zr alloys by multi-material laser-based powder bed fusion

Multi-material laser-based powder bed fusion (PBF-LB) allows manufacturing of parts with 3-dimensional gradient and additional functionality in a single step. This research focuses on the combination of thermally-conductive CuCr1Zr with hard M300 tool steel.Two interface configurations of M300 on CuCr1Zr and CuCr1Zr on M300 were investigated. Ultra-fine grains form at the interface due to the low mutual solubility of Cu and steel. The material mixing zone size is dependent on the configurations and tunable in the range of0.1–0.3 mm by introducing a separate set of parameters for the interface layers. Microcracks and pores mainly occur in the transition zone.Regardless of these defects, the thermal diffusivity of bimetallic parts with 50vol% of CuCr1Zr significantly increases by 70%–150%compared to pure M300. The thermal diffusivity of CuCr1Zr and the hardness of M300 steel can be enhanced simultaneously by applying the aging heat treatment.

Effect of solution treatment on the microstructure,phase transformation behavior and functional properties of NiTiNb ternary shape memory alloys fabricated via laser powder bed fusion in-situ alloying

Post-heat treatment is commonly employed to improve the microstructural homogeneity and enhance the mechanical performances of the additively manufactured metallic materials.In this work,a ternary(NiTi)91Nb9(at.%)shape memory alloy was produced by laser powder bed fusion(L-PBF)using pre-alloyed NiTi and elemental Nb powders.The effect of solution treatment on the microstructure,phase transformation behavior and mechanical/functional performances was investigated.The in-situ alloyed(NiTi)91Nb9 alloy exhibits a submicron cellular-dendritic structure surrounding the supersaturated B2-NiTi matrix.Upon high-temperature(1273 K)solution treatment,Nb-rich precipitates were precipitated from the supersaturated matrix.The fragmentation and spheroidization of the NiTi/Nb eutectics occurred during solution treatment,leading to a morphological transition from mesh-like into rod-like and sphere-like.Coarsening of theβ-Nb phases occurred with increasing holding time.The martensite transformation temperature increases after solution treatment,mainly attributed to:(i)reduced lattice distortion due to the Nb expulsion from the supersaturated B2-NiTi,and(ii)the Ti expulsion from theβ-Nb phases that lowers the ratio Ni/Ti in the B2-NiTi matrix,which resulted from the microstructure changes from non-equilibrium to equilibrium state.The thermal hysteresis of the solutionized alloys is around 145 K after 20%pre-deformation,which is comparable to the conventional NiTiNb alloys.A short-term solution treatment(i.e.at 1273 K for 30 min)enhances the ductility and strength of the as-printed specimen,with the increase of fracture stress from(613±19)MPa to(781±20)MPa and the increase of fracture strain from(7.6±0.1)%to(9.5±0.4)%.Both the as-printed and solutionized samples exhibit good tensile shape memory effects with recovery rates>90%.This work suggests that post-process heat treatment is essential to optimize the microstructure and improve the mechanical performances of the L-PBF in-situ alloyed parts.

Effect of process parameters on microstructure and mechanical properties of a nickel-aluminum-bronze alloy fabricated by laser powder bed fusion

This work investigated the effect of process parameters on densification,microstructure,and mechanical properties of a nickel-aluminum-bronze(NAB)alloy fabricated by laser powder bed fusion(LPBF)additive manufacturing.The LPBF-printed NAB alloy samples with relative densities of over 98.5%were obtained under the volumetric energy density range of 200−250 J/mm^(3).The microstructure of the NAB alloy printed in both horizontal and vertical planes primarily consisted ofβ'martensitic phase and bandedαphase.In particular,a coarser-columnar grain structure and stronger crystallographic texture were achieved in the vertical plane,where the maximum texture intensity was 30.56 times greater than that of random textures at the(100)plane.Increasing the volumetric energy density resulted in a decrease in the columnar grain size,while increasing the amount ofαphase.Notably,β_(1)'martensitic structures with nanotwins and nanoscaleκ-phase precipitates were identified in the microstructure of LPBF-printed NAB samples with a volumetric energy density of 250 J/mm^(3).Furthermore,under optimal process parameters with a laser power of 350 W and scanning speed of 800 mm/s,significant improvements were observed in the microhardness(HV 386)and ultimate tensile strength(671 MPa),which was attributed to an increase in refined acicular martensite.

Effect of Ni on microstructure and mechanical properties of Al−Mg−Si alloy for laser powder bed fusion

The microstructures and mechanical properties were systematically studied for the high-strength Al−5Mg_(2)Si−1.5Ni alloy fabricated by laser powder bed fusion(L-PBF).It is found that the introduction of Ni(1.5 wt.%)into an Al−5Mg_(2)Si alloy can significantly improve the L-PBF processibility and provide remarkable improvement in mechanical properties.The solidification range of just 85.5 K and the typical Al−Al3Ni eutectics could be obtained in the Ni-modified Al−5Mg_(2)Si samples with a high relative density of 99.8%at the volumetric energy density of 107.4 J/mm^(3).Additionally,the refined hierarchical microstructure was mainly characterized by heterogeneousα-Al matrix grains(14.6μm)that contain the interaction between dislocations and Al−Al3Ni eutectics as well as Mg_(2)Si particles.Through synergetic effects of grain refinement,dislocation strengthening and precipitation strengthening induced by Ni addition,the L-PBFed Al−5Mg_(2)Si−1.5Ni alloy achieved superior mechanical properties,which included the yield strength of(425±15)MPa,the ultimate tensile strength of(541±11)MPa and the elongation of(6.2±0.2)%.

Micro-aluminum powder with bi-or tri-component alloy coating as a promising catalyst:Boosting pyrolysis and combustion of ammonium perchlorate

A novel design of micro-aluminum(μAl)powder coated with bi-/tri-component alloy layer,such as:Ni-P and Ni-P-Cu(namely,Al@Ni-P,Al@Ni-P-Cu,respectively),as combustion catalysts,were introduced to release its huge energy inside Al-core and promote rapid pyrolysis of ammonium perchlorate(AP)at a lower temperature in aluminized propellants.The microstructure of Al@Ni-P-Cu demonstrates that a three-layer Ni-P-Cu shell,with the thickness of~100 nm,is uniformly supported byμAl carrier(fuel unit),which has an amorphous surface with a thickness of~2.3 nm(catalytic unit).The peak temperature of AP with the addition of Al@Ni-P-Cu(3.5%)could significantly drop to 316.2℃ at high-temperature thermal decomposition,reduced by 124.3℃,in comparison to that of pure AP with 440.5℃.It illustrated that the introduction of Al@Ni-P-Cu could weaken or even eliminate the obstacle of AP pyrolysis due to its reduction of activation energy with 118.28 kJ/mol.The laser ignition results showed that the ignition delay time of Al@Ni-P-Cu/AP mixture with 78 ms in air is shorter than that of Al@Ni-P/AP(118 ms),decreased by 33.90%.Those astonishing breakthroughs were attributed to the synergistic effects of adequate active sites on amorphous surface and oxidation exothermic reactions(7597.7 J/g)of Al@Ni-P-Cu,resulting in accelerated mass and/or heat transfer rate to catalyze AP pyrolysis and combustion.Moreover,it is believed to provide an alternative Al-based combustion catalyst for propellant designer,to promote the development the propellants toward a higher energy.

Preparation of ultra-fine fibrous Fe-Ni alloy powder by coordinated co-precipitation-direct reduction process

The precursor prepared by coordinated co-precipitation was direct reduced by hydrogen to ultra-fine fibrous Fe-Ni alloy powder. The effects of concentrations of reactants, pH value, reaction temperature and additive on the preparation of precursor were systematically investigated. The structures, thermal decomposition processes and morphologies of the precursors were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermal gravity-differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA) and scanning electron microscoy (SEM). The results show that using 2% polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) (in mass fraction) as additive, a well-dispersed precursor with a uniform morphology can be obtained in a solution with Fe2+ and Ni2+ total concentration (1:1) of 0.8 mol/L, pH value of 6.2 at 60 °C, and a pure and well dispersed fibrous iron-nickel powder can be prepared by direct reduction of this precursor in a mixed atmosphere of nitrogen and hydrogen at the temperature of 420 °C.

Shape-controlled synthesis of novel precursor for fibrous Ni-Co alloy powders

A novel precursor of nickel-cobalt alloy powders with an appropriate Ni to Co molar ratio was prepared under selectively synthetic conditions. The composition and morphology of the precursor were characterized by X-ray diffractometry （XRD）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry （FT-IR） and energy dispersive spectrometry （EDS）. The effects of pH value, reaction temperature, metal ion concentrations and surfactant on the morphology and the dispersion of precursor were investigated. The results show that the morphology of precursor depends on ammonia content in the precursor. A fibriform precursor is a complicated ammonia-containing nickel-cobalt oxalate. The uniform shape-controlled fibrous precursor is obtained under the following optimum conditions： ammonia as complex agent as well as pH adjustor, oxalate as coprecipitator, 50-65 °C of reaction temperature, 0.5-0.8 mol/L of total concentration of Ni2＋ and Co2＋, PVP as dispersant, and pH 8.0-8.4.

Phase transformation and damping behavior of lightweight porous TiNiCu alloys fabricated by powder metallurgy process

Porous TiNiCu ternary shape memory alloys （SMAs） were successfully fabricated by powder metallurgy method. The microstructure, martensitic transformation behavior, damping performance and mechanical properties of the fabricated alloys were intensively studied. It is found that the apparent density of alloys decreases with increasing the Cu content, the porous Ti50Ni40Cu10 alloy exhibits wide endothermic and exothermic peaks arisen from the hysteresis of martensitic transformations, while the porous Ti50Ni30Cu20 alloy shows much stronger and narrower endothermic and exothermic peaks owing to the B2-B19 transformation taking place easily. Moreover, the porous Ti50Ni40Cu10 alloy shows a lower shape recovery rate than the porous Ti50Ni50 alloy, while the porous Ti50Ni30Cu20 alloy behaves reversely. In addition, the damping capacity （or internal friction, IF） of the porous TiNiCu alloys increases with increasing the Cu content. The porous Ti50Ni30Cu20 alloy has very high equivalent internal friction, with the maximum equivalent internal friction value five times higher than that of the porous Ti50Ni50 alloy.

Deformation behaviors and processing maps of CNTs/Al alloy composite fabricated by flake powder metallurgy

Deformation behaviors of CNTs/Al alloy composite fabricated by the method of flake powder metallurgy were investigated by hot compression tests, which were performed in the temperature range of 300?550 °C and strain rate range of 0.001? 10 s?1 with Gleeble?3500 thermal simulator system. Processing maps of the CNTs/Al alloy at different strains were calculated to study the optimum processing domain. Microstructures before and after hot compressions were characterized by electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) method. Stress?strain curves indicate that the flow stress increases with the increase of strain rate and the decrease of temperature. The processing maps of the CNTs/Al alloy at different strains show that the optimum processing domain is 500?550 °C, 10 s?1 for hot working. EBSD analysis demonstrates that fully dynamic recrystallization occurs in the optimum processing domain (high strainrate 10 s?1), whereas the main soften mechanism is dynamic recovery at low strain rate (0.001 s?1).

Microstructure and mechanical properties of powder metallurgy Ti-Al-Mo-V-Ag alloy

The Ti-Al-Mo-V-Ag α＋β alloys were processed by powder metallurgy（PM） using the blended elemental（BE） technique.The effects of Ag addition and sintering temperature on microstructure and properties of the Ti-5Al-4Mo-4V alloys were investigated using X-ray diffraction,optical microscope,scanning electron microscope and mechanical properties tests.The results show that adding Ag element increases the relative density and improves the mechanical properties of PM Ti-5Al-4Mo-4V alloy.After sintering at 1 250 ℃ for 4 h,the relative density and compression strength of Ti-5Al-4Mo-4V-5Ag alloy are 96.3% and 1 656 MPa,respectively.

Rapid synthesis of Ti(C,N) powders by mechanical alloying and subsequent arc discharging

Ti（C,N） powders were synthesized by mechanical alloying （MA） from a mixture of pure titanium and graphite under a nitrogen atmosphere in a planetary mill.Effects of arc discharging on phase transformation and microstructure of MA powders milled for 1-7 h were explored.The results show that Ti（C,N） powders were prepared after mechanical milling for 1 h and subsequent arc discharge treatment,whereas the synthesis reaction did not occur in 7 h by mechanical milling alone.The ions produced during arc discharging interacted with powder particles and accelerated the diffusion of atoms and the nucleation on the surface of the as-milled powder,which results in fast synthesis of Ti（C,N） powders.The formation mechanisms of the two synthesis processes are self-propagating reactive synthesis.

Effects of processing parameters on microstructure and mechanical properties of powder-thixoforged 6061 aluminum alloy

A new processing technology,powder thixoforming,for preparation of particle reinforced metal matrix composites was proposed and 6061 aluminum alloy was prepared by powder thixoforging.6061 ingots were first prepared by cold-pressing the atomized 6061 alloy powders,and then the ingots were partially remelted followed by thixoforging.The effects of reheating time,mould temperature and reheating temperature on microstructure and mechanical properties of the thixoforged alloys were investigated.The results indicate that all of the three parameters have large effects on the microstructure and mechanical properties.Owing to the microstructure changes,the fracture regime varies with the processing parameters.Furthermore,cracks always initiate from shrinkage porosities and inclusions,and then propagate either along the secondarily solidified structures or primary particles.The ultimate tensile strength,elongation and hardness of the resulting alloy are up to 196 MPa,11.0%and HV 55.7 respectively.

Effect of ball milling on microstructural evolution during partial remelting of6061 aluminum alloy prepared by cold-pressing of alloy powders

The effect of ball milling on the microstructural evolution was investigated during partial remelting of 6061 aluminum alloy prepared by cold-pressing of atomized alloy powders.The results indicate that the microstructural evolution of 6061 aluminum alloy can be divided into three stages,the dissolution of eutectic phases and the coarsening and growth behavior of the resulting grains,structural separation and spheroidization of primary particles,and the final coarsening behavior of the particles.Compared with the alloy without ball milling,ball milling accelerates the first stage of microstructural evolution due to the energy stored in the powders,but the latter two stages are slowed down because of the formation of large-sized powders.Moreover,the finer the as-cold-pressed microstructure is,the smaller and more spherical the primary particles in the final semisolid microstructure are.Furthermore,properly elevating the heating temperature is beneficial for obtaining small and spheroidal particles.

Microstructures of Sintered Mo-Cu Alloys with Mechanically Activated Powder

Mechanical activation and liquid phase sintering were used to manufacture high performance Mo-Cu alloy and develop new processes. The microstructures and properties of the alloy were investigated. The experimental results showed that: (1) the ball milled Mo/Cu powder has lamellar structure, (2) the microstructures of the sintered Mo-Cu alloy were homogenous compound structures of adhesive phase Cu linking Mo grains, (3) Mo grains frequently strung or gathered in Cu phase, and (4) the full densities of Mo-Cu alloy was achieved through sintering and special densification process. As a result, the properties of the alloy are good enough to satisfy various requirements.

MICROSTRUCTURES OF TiAl BASED ALLOYS PREPARED BY HOT PRESSING ELEMENTAL POWDERS

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Improvement of Ductility of Powder Metallurgy Titanium Alloys by Addition of Rare Earth Element

Ti-4.5Al-6.0Mo-1.5Fe, Ti-6Al-1Mo-1Fe and Ti-6Al-4V alloys were prepared by blended elemental powder metallurgy （PM） process, and the effects of Nd on the microstructures and mechanical properties were investigated by scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, transmission electron microscopy （TEM） and X-ray diffraction （XRD）. It was found out that the addition of Nd increased the density of sintered titanium alloys slightly by a maximum increment of 1% because small amount of liquid phase occurred during sintering. The addition of Nd shows little effect on the improvement of tensile strength, while the elongation is significantly improved. For example, the elongation of Ti-4.SAl-6.0Mo-1.5Fe can be increased from 1% without addition of Nd to 13% at a Nd content of 1.2 wt pct.