Microstructure study of direct laser fabricated Ti alloys using powder and wire

A compositionally graded material has been fabricated using direct laser fabrication (DFL). Two types of feedstock were fed simultaneously into the laser focal point, a burn resistant (BurTi) alloy Ti–25V–15Cr–2Al–0.2C powder and a Ti–6Al–4V wire. The local composition of the alloy was changed by altering the ratio of powder to wire by varying the feed rate of the powder whilst maintaining a fixed feed rate of wire-feed. For the range of compositions between about 20% and 100% BurTi only the beta phase was observed and the composition and lattice parameter varied monotonically. The grain size was found to be much finer in these functionally graded samples than in laser fabricated Ti64. Some samples were made using the wire-feed alone, where it was found that the microstructure is different from that found when using powder feed alone. The results are discussed in terms of the power requirements for laser fabrication of powder and wire samples.