Mechanical properties of in-situ synthesis of Ti-Ti3Al metal composite prepared by selective laser melting

Titanium composite strengthened by Ti3Al precipitations is considered to be one of the excellent materials that is widely used in engineering. In this work, we prepared a kind of Ti-Ti3Al metallic composite by in-situ synthesis technology during the SLM (selective laser melting) process, and analyzed its microstructure, wear resistance, microhardness, and compression properties. The results showed that the Ti-Ti3Al composite, prepared by in-situ synthesis technology based on SLM, had more homogeneous Ti3Al-enhanced phase dispersion strengthening structure. The grain size of the workpiece was about 1 µm, and that of the Ti3Al particle was about 200 nm. Granular Ti3Al was precipitated after the aluminum-containing workpiece formed, with a relatively uniform distribution. Regarding the mechanical properties, the hardness (539 HV) and the wear resistance were significantly improved when compared with the Cp-Ti workpiece. The compressive strength of the workpiece increased from 886.32 MPa to 1568 MPa, and the tensile strength of the workpiece increased from 531 MPa to 567 MPa after adding aluminum. In the future, the combination of in-situ synthesis technology and SLM technology can be used to flexibly adjust the properties of Ti-based materials.