Evaluation of titanium matrix composites with additions of 5 vol. B_4C and TiC processed via Selective Laser Melting

摘要

Selective laser melting (SLM) is an additive manufacturing technique which is widely used for producing functional parts directly from metal powder. However, processing of defect-free ceramics or metal-ceramic composites is found to be difficult. The present study is focused on producing three-dimensional composite parts directly from powder mixtures. Commercially pure titanium powder with additions of 5 vol.% of boron carbide (B_4C) and 5 vol.% of titanium carbide (TiC) was used to manufacture solid bodies and cellular lattice structures. The energy density during printing was varied from 9,8 to 66,6 J/mm~3. The effect of laser power, exposure time and layer thickness were varied, while point distance and hatching distance were kept constant. Structure and properties of obtained composites were investigated. Compressive strength value 1120 MPa for Ti with 5 vol.% TiC was achieved.