Additive manufacturing of refractory multi-principal element alloy with ultrahigh-temperature strength via simultaneous enhancements in printability and solid solution hardening

Additive manufacturing of refractory multi-principal element alloy with ultrahigh-temperature strength via simultaneous enhancements in printability and solid solution hardening

Additive Manufacturing

10.1016/j.addma.2024.104340

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2024.104340

Ran Duan, Yakai Zhao, Jintao Xu, Qingjun Zhou, Zhenyu Yan, Yong Xie, Peng Dong, Kai Feng, Zhuguo Li, Beibei Xu, Xiubing Liang, Upadrasta Ramamurty

09 August 2024

Duan, R., Zhao, Y., Xu, J., Zhou, Q., Yan, Z., Xie, Y., Dong, P., Feng, K., Li, Z., Xu, B., Liang, X., & Ramamurty, U. (2024). Additive manufacturing of refractory multi-principal element alloy with ultrahigh-temperature strength via simultaneous enhancements in printability and solid solution hardening. Additive Manufacturing, 104340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2024.104340

Refractory multi-principal element alloys (RMPEAs), such as those obtained from the Nb-Mo-Ta-W system, are known for remarkable high-temperature strength. However, their brittleness poses a significant challenge in manufacturing engineering components through conventional methods. Alloying with other elements, while mitigating this problem, can compromise the high temperature strength. To this end, a composition optimization strategy within the Nb-Mo-Ta-W alloy system was developed to simultaneously enhance ultrahigh-temperature strength through solid solution hardening (SSH) and printability (through the use of the thermodynamic criteria) for laser powder bed fusion (LPBF). The thermodynamic parameters that enhance printability are lower liquid viscosity (LV) and higher liquid temperature range (LR) for better liquidity in filling pores, lower volumetric change (VC) that minimizes cracking susceptibility, and lower shear to bulk moduli ratio (μ/B) that improves toughness. Analysis shows that a higher LR/VC*LV*(μ/B) leads to better printability. An optimum alloy composition (Nb15Ta10W75) that balances strength and printability was obtained by considering SSH and the thermodynamic criterion and experimentally validated. The effects of chemical composition optimization on printability, microstructure, and temperature-dependent strength were analyzed through thermodynamic calculations, microstructure characterization, and strengthening contribution estimations.

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

This research / project is supported by the A*STAR - Advanced Models for Additive Manufacturing (AM2)
Grant Reference no. : M22L2b0111

https://oar.a-star.edu.sg/communities-collections/articles/20720

2214-8604

Institute of Materials Research & Engineering