The effect of Ti addition on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloys was investigated. Optical microscopy (OM), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to determine grain size and distribution of the second phases in the alloys. The results indicate that the tensile properties of Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloys are improved significantly with Ti addition. Tensile elongation increased from 2.7% for the alloy without Ti to 17.9% for the alloy with 0.3% Ti, while tensile strength was maintained and even increased from 935 MPa to 1024 MPa. The improvement of the mechanical properties of Cu-15Ni-8Sn alloys by the addition of Ti is attributed to the grain refinement and suppression of discontinuous precipitation during heat treatment.

The wear properties of Ti-6Al-4V alloy have drawn great attention in both aerospace and biomedical fields. The present study examines the wear properties of Ti-6Al-4V alloy as prepared by selective laser melting (SLM), electron beam melting (EBM) and conventional forging processes. The SLM and EBM samples show better wear resistance than the forged sample, which correlates to their higher hardness values and weak delamination tendencies. The EBM sample shows a lower wear rate than the SLM sample because of the formation of multiple horizontal cracks in the SLM sample, which results in heavier delamination. The results suggest that additive manufacturing processes offer significantly wear-resistant Ti-6Al-4V specimens in comparison to their counterparts produced by forging.

In this work, the dissimilar joint of AA7003-T4 and 6060-T4 alloy has been produced by friction stir welding (FSW). The microstructure was examined by optical microscope (OM), electron back scattered diffraction (EBSD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and the mechanical properties of the joint were investigated. It is demonstrated that sound dissimilar joint can be produced through FSW. In the nugget; precipitations dissolve into the matrix and η′ reprecipitate subsequently; and the elongated aluminum grains are replaced by fine and equiaxed grains due to dynamic recrystallization (DRX). In the heat affected zone (HAZ), coarse β′ and η precipitates are formed and the aluminum grains are coarser as compared to the base materials. In the thermo-mechanical affected zone (TMAZ), equiaxed and elongated grains coexist due to incomplete DRX. The ultimate tensile strength of the dissimilar joint is 159.2 MPa and its elongation is 10.4%. The weak area exists in the HAZ of 6060 alloy, which is placed in the retreating side during FSW. The correlations between the microstucture and mechanical properties of the dissimilar joint are discussed.