The microstructure, texture, and mechanical properties of Inconel 718 fabricated via hybrid wire-arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) with inter-pass forging, and the subsequent modified post-deposition heat treatment (PDHT), were investigated. The modified PDHT included homogenization at 1185 °C and double ageing at 720 °C, with furnace-cooling to 620 °C; this process was first used for Inconel 718 obtained via WAAM and inter-pass forging. In the as-printed material, two characteristic zones were distinguished, as follows: (i) columnar grains with a preferable orientation and (ii) fine grains with a random crystallographic orientation. The development of static recrystallization induced via inter-pass forging and further heating during the deposition of the next (upper) layer provoked the formation of the fine-grained zone. In the as-printed material, particles of (Nb,Ti)C and TiN, and precipitates of a Nb-rich Laves phase that caused premature cracking and failure during mechanical testing, were detected. In the PDHT material, two zones were found, as follows: (i) a zone with coarse uniaxial grains and (ii) a zone with a gradient grain size distribution. PDHT resulted in the precipitation of γ″ nanoparticles in the γ-Ni matrix and the dissolution of the brittle Laves phase. Therefore, significant hardening and strengthening, as well as increases in ductility and impact toughness, occurred.
In this work, the nanostructure of oxide dispersion-strengthened steels was studied by small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and atom probe tomography (APT). The steels under study have different alloying systems differing in their contents of Cr, V, Ti, Al, and Zr. The methods of local analysis of TEM and APT revealed a significant number of nanosized oxide particles and clusters. Their sizes, number densities, and compositions were determined. A calculation of hardness from SANS data collected without an external magnetic field, or under a 1.1 T field, showed good agreement with the microhardness of the materials. The importance of taking into account two types of inclusions (oxides and clusters) and both nuclear and magnetic scattering was shown by the analysis of the scattering data.
In this work, CP-Ti was prepared by the selective laser melting (SLM) technique to systematically explore the effect of scanning speed on microstructure, mechanical, wear properties, and corrosion behavior. The optimum relative density of 99.87±0.12% was obtained by using the scanning speed of 800 mm/s, while its tensile strength, yield strength, elongation, and hardness were 543±17 MPa, 453±7 MPa, 14±1%, and 294±4 HV, respectively. Moreover, SLM-processed CP-Ti with the optimum relative density had the lowest value of wear rate (2.72×10-7 mm2/N) and excellent corrosion resistance. These results indicated that the CP-Ti with high relative density, strength and hardness, low wear rate, and excellent corrosion resistance could be fabricated by controlling the scanning speed, and further used for the biomedical implant applications well.