Analysis of Si addition on phase formation in AlCoCrCuFeNiSiₓ high entropy alloys

In the present work, the effect of Si addition on the structure of AlCoCuCrFeNiSiₓ alloy system is studied. The alloys were prepared by mechanical alloying in high energy ball mill. The phase formation of the present high entropy alloys were analysed by X-ray diffraction to understand the alloying behaviour. The analysis of X-ray diffraction pattern clearly shows that the addition of Si favours the formation of body centered cubic structure. The experimental results were also in accord with the theoretical prediction of structure based upon mixing entropy, atomic size mismatch, mixing enthalpy, valence electron concentration, electronegativity difference and mismatch entropy.status: publishe

Surface Modified Copper Alloy Powder for Reliable Laser-based Additive Manufacturing

Owing to the high optical reflectivity of copper, silver, and gold in the infrared region, high laser power is required for laser-based additive manufacturing (L-AM). This increases the risk of damaging the laser optics due to sustained back-reflections and renders L-AM of reflective metals an unsustainable technology. To tackle this issue, a novel, industrially upscalable powder surface modification method is proposed and validated using a CuCr1 alloy. The surface of CuCr1 powder is modified by the outward diffusion of chromium in a nitrogen atmosphere, forming a rim around the powder particles. This doubled the optical absorption of the powder. Consequently, a mere 20% of the laser energy is required to process the surface-modified powder by laser powder bed fusion compared to the virgin CuCr1 powder. The fabricated parts demonstrate a very high thermal conductivity of 370 ± 15 W/(m·K) and tensile strength of 439 ± 19 MPa, after applying a suitable post-heat treatment.status: Published onlin

Micro-mechanical deformation behavior of heat-treated laser powder bed fusion processed Ti-6Al-4V

Industrial implementation of heat-treated Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) processed Ti-6Al-4 V components requires a thorough understanding of the plastic deformation mechanisms to predict the part performance in safety-critical environments. Here, we study the micro-mechanical deformation behavior of a heat-treated L-PBF processed Ti-6Al-4 V by in-situ uniaxial tensile loading, during which high-resolution strain fields were monitored by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) based Digital Image Correlation (DIC). SEM-DIC revealed: (i) the transformed beta phase accommodates higher strain than the primary alpha phase; (ii) strain accumulation in primary alpha occurs primarily at the interface regions where the Al content is lower; and (iii) needle-shaped secondary alpha precipitate in the transformed beta creates strain localization pathways that bridge the interfacial strain bands. Based on the in-situ deformation behavior, recommendations are made on microstructure tailoring and alloy design to prevent strain localization and enhance the quasi-static mechanical properties of L-PBF processed titanium alloy components

Correlation of Microstructure and Texture in a Two-Phase High-Mn Twinning-Induced Plasticity Steel During Cold Rolling

The evolution of microstructure and texture of a two-phase austenite-ferrite twinning-induced plasticity steel during cold rolling was investigated and different deformation mechanisms were found to become active with increasing thickness reductions. Optical microscopy showed the formation of brass-type shear bands across several austenite grains at reductions greater than 50 pct. TEM observations reveal the presence of deformation twinning in austenite. The austenite phase initially shows the Cu-type texture, i.e., Cu {1 1 2}〈1 1 1〉, Goss {0 1 1}〈1 0 0〉 with a spread toward Brass {1 1 0}〈1 1 2〉. With continued cold rolling, the Cu {1 1 2}〈1 1 1〉 component moves toward CuT component {552}〈115〉 and the other two components increase in intensity. There is also emergence of {111} fiber after 90 pct cold rolling. The ferrite phase exhibits the evolution of ND-rotated Cube component {001}〈110〉 along with 〈110〉 fiber at lower as well as at higher rolling reductions. An exception is at 75 pct reduction, when the ferrite texture contains {111} fiber in place of 〈110〉 fiber with a weak rotated-Cube component. Phase fraction analysis by X-ray diffraction indicates a decrease in the austenite fraction up to 75 pct reduction followed by an increase at 90 pct reduction. After 90 pct cold rolling, the phase fraction is similar to that of the “as-received” state. Elongated grains of ferrite phase in finer dimensions after 90 pct cold rolling indicate softening within that phase; at similar stage, there are finer scale austenite grains mostly at the grain boundaries. The above has been suggested to be related with the adiabatic heating during cold rolling due to the high strain hardening of the austenite phase

Laser Powder Bed Fusion Additive Manufacturing of Highly Conductive Parts Made of Optically Absorptive Carburized CuCr1 Powder

Fabrication of fully dense and highly conductive copper alloy parts via laser-based additive manufacturing (L-AM) is challenging due to the high optical reflectivity and high thermal conductivity. To overcome this, the use of optically absorptive surface-modified copper powders is being evaluated in the laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) process. Although the surface-modified powders exhibit high optical absorption at room temperature, not all of them allow the fabrication of fully dense parts at a laser power below 500 W. Accordingly, this article proposes the use of optically absorptive carburized CuCr1 powder for the consistent fabrication of copper parts. Moreover, a densification mechanism of parts is discussed to explain the distinct LPBF processing behavior of different surface-modified powders, such as carburized CuCr1 and carbon mixed CuCr1 powders, albeit having similar room temperature optical absorption. This investigation clearly outlines the advantage of a firmly bonded modified layer present on the surface of the carburized CuCr1 powder over a loosely attached carbon nanoparticle layer present in the carbon-mixed CuCr1 powder. Apart from the successful fabrication of CuCr1 parts, fabricated parts are subjected to two different post-heat treatments, and it is shown that the final properties can be customized by applying tailored post-heat treatments.status: accepte