Improving mechanical properties of wire-based EBAM Ti-6Al-4V parts by adding TiC powders

Abstract

This paper addresses the problem of enlarging the strength of Ti-6Al-4V titanium parts fabricated by wire-based electron-beam additive manufacturing (EBAM) technology. The investigations on microstructure and phase composition of wire-based EBAM Ti-6Al-4V samples as well the as EBAM TiCx/Ti-6Al-4V ones fabricated by electron beam melting of titanium Ti-6Al-4V wire with simultaneous supply of TiC powder were performed. It is shown that adding of TiC powder into a molten pool significantly affects the microstructure and volume fraction of retained β phase in the EBAM-built parts. The main conclusion made postulates that the combination of wire feeding–based EBAM and direct metal deposition technology, which utilizes a feed nozzle to supply the ceramic powder into a molten pool, provides an ample opportunity to produce EBAM TiCx/Ti-6Al-4V samples with increased microhardness and tensile strength.