Rapid Microstructure Homogenization of a Laser Melting Deposition Additive Manufactured Ti-6.5Al-3.5Mo-1.5Zr-0.3Si Alloy by Electropulsing

The typical microstructure of the laser melting deposition (LMD) additive-manufactured Ti-6.5Al-3.5Mo-1.5Zr-0.3Si alloy (TC11) contains the heat-affected bands (HABs), the narrow bands (NBs) and the melting pools (MPs) that formed due to the reheating and superheating effects during the layer-by-layer manufacturing process. Characterization results indicated that the coarse primary α lath (α(p)) and transformed β (β(t)) structures were located in the HABs, while the fine basketweave structure was formed inside the MPs. The rapid modifications of microstructure and tensile properties of the LMD-TC11 via electropulsing treatment (EPT) were investigated. The initial heterogeneous microstructure transformed into a complete basketweave structure and the HABs vanished after EPT. Thus, a more homogeneous microstructure was achieved in the EPT sample. The ultrafast microstructural changes were mainly attributed to the solid state phase transformation during electropulsing. The tensile properties of the sample were basically stable, except that the yield strength decreased as EPT voltage increased. This study suggests that EPT could be a promising method to modify the microstructure and mechanical properties of the additive-manufactured alloys in a very short time.