Fig. 1 Preparation of TiC/CM247LC mixed powder by ball milling process: a schematic diagram of CM247LC powder, and the inset showing the morphologies of CM247LC powder, b schematic diagram of Nano-TiC particles, and the inset showing the morphologies of Nano-TiC particles powder, c schematic diagram of the ball milling process, d TiC/CM247LC mixed powder, e a partial enlargement image of the blue square area in (d)

Fig. 2 a Schematic diagram of the scanning strategy, b rectangular specimens fabricated by SLM, c dimension of the tensile specimen

Fig. 3 SEM images of heat treated TiC/CM247LC composites and corresponding γ′ phase particle size distribution: a HT840, b HT870, c HT900, d HT930, e, f, g, h local enlarged image of Fig. 3(a, b, c, d), respectively, i, j, k, l γ′ phase particle size distribution of heat treated composite

Fig. 4 IPF, grain size distribution and pole figure of the composites with different aging treatments: a-d IPF of HT840, HT870, HT900 and HT930, e-h grain size distribution of HT840, HT870, HT900 and HT930, i-l pole figure of HT840, HT870, HT900 and HT930

Fig. 5 Room temperature mechanical properties of the composites with different aging treatments: a stress-strain curves, b UTS, YS, and elongation

Fig. 6 TEM images showing the microstructures of the stretched HT870 sample: a bright field image of the matrix microstructures, and the inset shows the SAED of the red circle area, b bright field image for the precipitated phase, and the inset showing the SAED of the particle phase, c EDS mapping

Fig. 7 TEM images of the HT870 sample near the tensile fracture: a parallel dislocations, b, c stacking fault located inside γ′ phase, d stacking fault through γ and γ′ phases

Fig. 8 Dislocation pairs present in the stretched HT870 sample