Microstructure and mechanical property improvement of concurrent wire-powder feeding laser melting deposition Ti-6Al-4V via TiC addition

Wire-feed laser metal deposition (LMD-W) offers a high deposition rate and low cost, making it an effective solution for reducing costs and enhancing efficiency in manufacturing large-scale titanium aerospace components. Currently, the material used for LMD-W is typically a single alloy wire, which limits the flexibility and functionality of manufacturing composite materials. This work employed a novel concurrent wire-powder feeding laser metal deposition (LMD-WP) process to manufacture TiC/Ti-6Al-4V composite. In the LMD-WP method, Ti-6Al-4V wire was fed laterally, while TiC particles were delivered coaxially. Only 1.0 wt.% TiC particles were added to prevent excessive TiC, which could cause stress concentration and increase crack sensitivity. The microstructure and mechanical properties of Ti-6Al-4V alloy and TiC/Ti-6Al-4V composite were investigated. The results indicate that with coaxial TiC particle addition, the α-Ti in TiC/Ti-6Al-4V is noticeably refined. Additionally, in-situ TiC acts as heterogeneous nucleation sites, restricting α-Ti growth and reducing its aspect ratio. Furthermore, TiC particles weakened the α-Ti texture in the (0001) and (11-20) directions. Moreover, adding TiC particles significantly enhanced tensile strength, with the yield strength reaching 950 MPa and the ultimate tensile strength reaching 1048 MPa. Compared to Ti-6Al-4V alloy fabricated by LMD-W, this represents an increase of 11.25% and 10.72%, respectively. The improvement in tensile properties is principally ascribed to grain boundary strengthening, Orowan strengthening and dislocation density strengthening. This work introduces an innovative approach and abundant data for the additive manufacturing of TiC/Ti-6Al-4V composite with high efficiency and low cost.