Strong and ductile titanium-oxygen-iron alloys by additive manufacturing

Tingting Song; Zibin Chen; Xiangyuan Cui; Shenglu Lu; Hansheng Chen; Hao Wang; Tony Dong; Bailiang Qin; Kang Cheung Chan; Milan Brandt; Xiaozhou Liao; Simon P Ringer; Ma Qian

doi:10.1038/s41586-023-05952-6

Strong and ductile titanium-oxygen-iron alloys by additive manufacturing

Nature. 2023 Jun;618(7963):63-68. doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-05952-6. Epub 2023 May 31.

Authors

Tingting Song^#¹, Zibin Chen^#^{2

3

4

5}, Xiangyuan Cui^{2

3}, Shenglu Lu¹, Hansheng Chen^{2

3}, Hao Wang^{2

3}, Tony Dong⁶, Bailiang Qin⁴, Kang Cheung Chan^{4

5}, Milan Brandt¹, Xiaozhou Liao^{2

3}, Simon P Ringer^{7

8}, Ma Qian⁹

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Additive Manufacturing, School of Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
² School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
³ Australian Centre for Microscopy & Microanalysis, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
⁴ Research Institute for Advanced Manufacturing, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Ultra-precision Machining Technology, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.
⁶ Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence, Doncaster, Victoria, Australia.
⁷ School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. simon.ringer@sydney.edu.au.
⁸ Australian Centre for Microscopy & Microanalysis, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. simon.ringer@sydney.edu.au.
⁹ Centre for Additive Manufacturing, School of Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. ma.qian@rmit.edu.au.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Titanium alloys are advanced lightweight materials, indispensable for many critical applications^1,2. The mainstay of the titanium industry is the α-β titanium alloys, which are formulated through alloying additions that stabilize the α and β phases^3-5. Our work focuses on harnessing two of the most powerful stabilizing elements and strengtheners for α-β titanium alloys, oxygen and iron^1-5, which are readily abundant. However, the embrittling effect of oxygen^6,7, described colloquially as 'the kryptonite to titanium'⁸, and the microsegregation of iron⁹ have hindered their combination for the development of strong and ductile α-β titanium-oxygen-iron alloys. Here we integrate alloy design with additive manufacturing (AM) process design to demonstrate a series of titanium-oxygen-iron compositions that exhibit outstanding tensile properties. We explain the atomic-scale origins of these properties using various characterization techniques. The abundance of oxygen and iron and the process simplicity for net-shape or near-net-shape manufacturing by AM make these α-β titanium-oxygen-iron alloys attractive for a diverse range of applications. Furthermore, they offer promise for industrial-scale use of off-grade sponge titanium or sponge titanium-oxygen-iron^10,11, an industrial waste product at present. The economic and environmental potential to reduce the carbon footprint of the energy-intensive sponge titanium production¹² is substantial.