Novel bainitic Ti alloys designed for additive manufacturing
Ryan Brooke, Duyao Zhang, Dong Qiu, Mark Gibson, Edwin L. H. Mayes, Tomáš Morávek, Nithin Balaji V.I., Narendraraj Chandran, Rajarshi Banerjee, Mark Easton
Abstract
Novel ternary titanium alloys with a bainitic microstructure have been designed specifically for additive manufacturing (AM). The Ti-xCu-yFe alloys take advantage of constitutional supercooling to suppress the growth of large columnar grains usually associated with AM Ti alloys. In the as-built condition the bainitic microstructure consists of a refined α-phase within a matrix of β-phase. The intermetallic phase, Ti2Cu, forms predominantly on the interface of the α- and β-phase and within the β matrix. The high strength of these materials is attributed to the refined α-phase and Ti2Cu particles as well as significant solid solution hardening. This work demonstrates a viable way to fabricate structural components with unique and excellent properties using low-cost elemental powders with AM.