The plasticity of hexagonal titanium is reexamined based on the split slip modes phenomenon, revealing the existence of subslip modes in prismatic and pyramidal hcp slip systems. The energetics of dislocation emission and motions were described using all-dimension relaxed atomic models of crystal slip, calculated with density functional theory. The proposed computational methodology is based on the generalized stacking fault energy concept and respects all elastic effects arising within dislocation nucleation. As a result, improved accuracy has been obtained with regard to ductility prediction and a breach has been discovered in the fundamental Peierls-Nabarro rule. This approach is essential for the Rice and Peierls-Nabarro models and can be used as an effective tool for ductility predictions when designing new hexagonal alloys.

The use of elemental metallic powders and in situ alloying in additive manufacturing (AM) is of industrial relevance as it offers the required flexibility to tailor the batch powder composition. This solution has been applied to the AM manufacturing of nickel-titanium (NiTi) shape memory alloy components. In this work, we show that laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) can be used to create a Ni_55.7Ti_44.3 alloyed component, but that the chemical composition of the build has a large heterogeneity. To solve this problem three different annealing heat treatments were designed, and the resulting porosity, microstructural homogeneity, and phase formation was investigated. The heat treatments were found to improve the alloy’s chemical and phase homogeneity, but the brittle NiTi₂ phase was found to be stabilized by the 0.54 wt.% of oxygen present in all fabricated samples. As a consequence, a Ni₂Ti₄O phase was formed and was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation. This study showed that pore formation in in situ alloyed NiTi can be controlled via heat treatment. Moreover, we have shown that the two-step heat treatment is a promising method to homogenise the chemical and phase composition of in situ alloyed NiTi powder fabricated by LPBF.