Deformation and fracture mechanisms of in situ synthesized TiC reinforced TC4 matrix composites produced by selective laser melting

In this study, TiC/TC4 composites were fabricated using selective laser melting (SLM), and the deformation mechanism and fracture characteristics of the composites with nano-sized TiC particles formed in situ were studied. The experimental results showed that the rapid melting and solidification characteristics of SLM and the Marangoni effect of the liquid pool promoted a considerably homogeneous dispersion of the in situ-formed nanoscale-TiC reinforcement in the TiC/TC4 composites. In particular, an enhanced compressive strength of 1490.2 MPa and a considerable fracture elongation of 21.5% were simultaneously achieved for the TiC/TC4 composites, which could be attributed to the load transfer effect and the formation of denser and more uniformly distributed dimples. Combined with the finite element (FE) analysis, the uneven stress distribution in the shear band of the TiC/TC4 composites led to the fracture. Further, the fracture surface analysis showed that the in situ nanoscale TiC reinforcement promoted the fracture of microbubbles from the alpha/beta interface with the concentrated distribution of the V element to the interface between TiC and the Ti matrix because of the load transfer, which promoted the uniform distribution of the V element in the dimple.