Effect of in situ electromagnetic field manipulation on the microstructure and hardness of titanium alloy during laser melting deposition

Abstract

The electromagnetic field is a non-contact physical field that can influence the internal flow of the melt pool and regulate the microstructure properties of alloy through electromagnetic force during laser melting deposition (LMD). This study proposes a 3D numerical model of LMD Ti-6Al-4V coupled with an electromagnetic field and investigates the effect of the electromagnetic field on the fluid dynamics of the melt pool during LMD. The results indicated that a steady electromagnetic field can suppress the internal flow of the melt pool. In an electromagnetic field of 39.40 mT, the length of β-columnar grains significantly decreases from 490 to 354 μm, resulting in fragmentation and equiaxed tendencies, thereby enhancing the hardness of the deposition layer. This study provides a new method for in situ manipulation of the microstructure and mechanical properties of titanium alloys during LMD.

Keywords

In situ manipulation / Electromagnetic field / Laser melting deposition / Ti-6Al-4V / Molten pool

Funding

This work was financially supported by the Major Research Plan of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 92266102), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52271135), Innovation Funding Project of National Engineering and Research Center for Commercial Aircraft Manufacturing (COMAC-SFGS-2022-1871), Overseas Expertise Introduction Project for Discipline Innovation (B17034), and Innovative Research Team Development Program of Ministry of Education of China (IRT_17R83).

Conflict of interest

Both Lechun Xie and Liqiang Wang serve as the Editorial Board Members of the journal but were not involved in any way (directly or indirectly) in the editorial and peer-review process conducted for this paper. Other authors declare they have no competing interests.

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