Carbon Nanotubes Enabled Laser 3D Printing of High-Performance Titanium with Highly Concentrated Reinforcement

Dongdong Gu; Hongyu Chen; Donghua Dai; Chenglong Ma; Han Zhang; Kaijie Lin; Lixia Xi; Tong Zhao; Chen Hong; Andres Gasser; Reinhart Poprawe

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2020.101498

Carbon Nanotubes Enabled Laser 3D Printing of High-Performance Titanium with Highly Concentrated Reinforcement

iScience. 2020 Aug 25;23(9):101498. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2020.101498. eCollection 2020 Sep 25.

Authors

Dongdong Gu^{1

2}, Hongyu Chen^{1

2}, Donghua Dai^{1

2}, Chenglong Ma^{1

2}, Han Zhang^{1

2}, Kaijie Lin^{1

2}, Lixia Xi^{1

2}, Tong Zhao^{3

4}, Chen Hong^{3

4}, Andres Gasser^{3

4}, Reinhart Poprawe^{3

4}

Affiliations

¹ College of Materials Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Yudao Street 29, Nanjing 210016, PR China.
² Jiangsu Provincial Engineering Laboratory for Laser Additive Manufacturing of High-Performance Metallic Components, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Yudao Street 29, Nanjing 210016, PR China.
³ Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT, Steinbachstraße 15, Aachen 52074, Germany.
⁴ Chair for Laser Technology LLT, RWTH Aachen University, Steinbachstraße 15, Aachen 52074, Germany.

Abstract

Zero- to two-dimensional nanomaterials have been incorporated into metal-matrices to improve the strength of metals, but challengingly, high-volume-fraction nanomaterials are difficult to disperse uniformly in metal matrices, severely degrading the ductility of conventionally processed metals. Here, a considerably dense uniform dispersion of in situ formed nanoscale lamellar TiC reinforcement (16.1 wt %) in Ti matrix is achieved through laser-tailored 3D printing and complete reaction of Ti powder with a small amount (1.0 wt %) of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). An enhanced tensile strength of 912 MPa and an outstanding fracture elongation of 16% are simultaneously achieved for laser-printed components, showing a maximum 350% improvement in "product of strength and elongation" compared with conventional Ti. In situ nanoscale TiC reinforcement favors the formation of ultrafine equiaxed Ti grains and metallurgically coherent interface with minimal lattice misfit between TiC lamellae and Ti matrix. Our approach hopefully provides a feasible way to broaden structural applications of CNTs in load-bearing Ti-based engineering components via laser-tailored reorganization with Ti.

Keywords: Materials Processing; Mechanical Property; Nanomaterials.