Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of TiC-Reinforced Al-Mg-Sc-Zr Composites Additively Manufactured by Laser Direct Energy Deposition

doi:10.1007/s40195-021-01309-y

Abstract

Abstract:

In order to refine the microstructure and improve the performance of direct energy deposited (DED) additively manufactured Al-Mg-Sc-Zr alloy, TiC-modified Al-Mg-Sc-Zr composites were prepared by DED and the effect of TiC content on the microstructure and performance was studied. In the absence of TiC particle, the microstructure of Al-Mg-Sc-Zr alloy prepared by DED consisted of fine grains with average size of 8.36 μm, and well-dispersed nano-Al₃(Sc,Zr) particles inside the grains and Mg₂Si phase along the grain boundaries. With the addition of 1 wt% TiC, the microstructure of TiC/Al-Mg-Sc-Zr prepared by DED became finer apparently compared with that without TiC; while the further increase of TiC content to 3 wt%, the microstructure of TiC/Al-Mg-Sc-Zr prepared by DED became coarser with appearance of a new kind of needle-like (Ti,Zr)₅Si₃ phase. Also, the addition of TiC decreased the porosity of Al-Mg-Sc-Zr prepared by DED. Simultaneously, after the addition of TiC, the tensile strength increased from 283.25 MPa to 344.98-361.51 MPa, and the elongation increased from 3.61% to 9.58-14.10%. The potential mechanism of the microstructure evolution and strength improvement was discussed. This research will provide new insights into the available metal matrix composites by laser additive manufacturing (LAM).

Key words: Laser additive manufacturing, Aluminum matrix composites, Mechanical property, Microstructure

Rong Xu, Ruidi Li, Tiechui Yuan, Hongbin Zhu, Ping Li. Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of TiC-Reinforced Al-Mg-Sc-Zr Composites Additively Manufactured by Laser Direct Energy Deposition[J]. Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters), 2022, 35(3): 411-424.

Figures/Tables 15

Fig. 1 SEM images of a Al-Mg-Sc-Zr alloy power, b magnification of zone B, c TiC powder, d TiC/Al-Mg-Sc-Zr composite powder

Fig. 2 Movement path for making specimens of DED and scale drawings of tensile specimens

Fig. 3 OM images of TiC/Al-Mg-Sc-Zr samples with different TiC contents: a 0 wt%, b 1 wt%, c 2 wt%, d 3 wt%

Fig. 4 EBSD results of TiC/Al-Mg-Sc-Zr alloys prepared by DED: IPFs of a1 0 wt% TiC, b1 1 wt% TiC, c1 2 wt% TiC, d1 3 wt% TiC; (100) PF of a2 0 wt% TiC, b2 1 wt% TiC, c2 2 wt% TiC, d2 3 wt% TiC

Fig. 5 Grain size distributions of TiC/Al-Mg-Sc-Zr alloys: a 0 wt% TiC, b 1 wt% TiC, c 2 wt% TiC, d 3 wt% TiC based on the EBSD orientation maps and statistical data analyses as shown in Fig. 4

Fig. 6 SEM images of TiC/Al-Mg-Sc-Zr samples with different TiC contents: a 0 wt%, b 1 wt%, c 2 wt%, d 3 wt%

Fig. 7 XRD patterns of TiC/Al-Mg-Sc-Zr samples manufactured by DED

Fig. 8 EDS elemental maps of area C in Fig. 6c

Fig. 9 EDS elemental maps of area D in Fig. 6d

Fig. 10 Engineering stress-strain curves of TiC/Al-Mg-Sc-Zr at room temperature

Table 1 Mechanical properties of TiC/Al-Mg-Sc-Zr specimens prepared by DED

Specimen	YS (MPa)	UTS (MPa)	EL (%)
Al-Mg-Sc-Zr	211.1 ± 3.8	283.25 ± 5.41	3.61 ± 1.28
+ 1 wt% TiC	227.7 ± 4.7	361.51 ± 6.12	10.46 ± 1.19
+ 2 wt% TiC	204.2 ± 3.3	354.95 ± 4.69	14.10 ± 1.37
+ 3 wt% TiC	209.1 ± 5.2	344.98 ± 5.28	9.58 ± 0.93

Fig. 11 SEM images of the fracture surface morphologies of TiC/Al-Mg-Sc-Zr alloys with different TiC content: a1 0 wt%; a2 marked area of a1; b1 1 wt%; b2 marked area of b1; c1 2 wt%; c2 marked area of c1; d1 0 wt%; d2 marked area of d1

Fig. 12 a TEM diagram of TiC/Al-Mg-Sc-Zr alloy with TiC content of 2 wt%, b an enlarged view of the marked area in a, c energy spectrum analysis of the yellow marked area

Fig. 13 KAM distributions of TiC/Al-Mg-Si-Sc-Zr samples with different TiC contents: a 0 wt%, b 1 wt%, c 2 wt%, d 3 wt%

Fig. 14 Calculated GND density distributions of TiC/Al-Mg-Si-Sc-Zr samples with different TiC contents: a 0 wt%, b 1 wt%, c 2 wt%, d 3 wt%

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