Structure and mechanical properties of Ti(Al1–xFex)3 alloys obtained by arc melting and directed energy deposition
摘要
This study investigates the influence of the manufacturing process on the microstructure and properties of Ti(Al1–xFex)3 intermetallic alloys. The samples were produced using two techniques: arc melting and directed energy deposition. The results indicate that, for alloys with 9 at % Fe, an L12 structure with secondary phase precipitates forms regardless of the manufacturing technique. This structure has a similar volume of secondary phases, but a different degree of dispersion. High cooling rates during the directed energy deposition process result in a significant refinement of the dendritic structure. The fine-grained microstructure of the additively manufactured Ti25Fe9Al66 alloy results in hardness and fracture toughness that are 8.1% and 22.4% higher, respectively, than those of the cast Ti26Fe9Al65 alloy. Similarly, the hardness of the directed-energy-deposited alloy with a high iron content (16 at %) is 2.1 times greater than that of its arc-melted counterpart. However, despite its refined microstructure, the high-iron composition exhibits the lowest fracture toughness (3.1 MPa·m1/2) of all the studied alloys, which is 2.3 times lower than the value of the cast material. This embrittlement is attributed to the precipitation of a large volume of brittle secondary phases identified as TiFeAl2 and Fe4Al13.