Material characterization and corrosion behavior of hybrid coating Ti−Al−Si−Cu/Ti−6Al‐4V composite

Abstract

AbstractTitanium alloy grade 5 is a grade of the titanium material that is in‐demand in the marine, aerospace, biomedical and turbo machinery industries. It offers great properties such as being light weight, good corrosion performance and great strength. However, some of the other properties, namely: its low hardness and poor tribological performance, has limited its various industrial application. Developments have focused on the enhancement of the surface properties without altering the bulk of the material. This has led to the laser metal deposition technique categorized under the additive manufacturing processes. It is a feasible technique that operates on layer‐by‐layer additive processing to manufactures whole parts or repair local damages in components. This study aims to ascertain the optimum processing conditions of the process by varying the laser intensity and scanning speed between 0.9 kW–1 kW and 1.0 m/min–1.2 m/min, respectively, while maintaining all the other process parameters. The specimens were produced by utilizing the ytterbium laser system to conduct laser surface alloying of Ti−Al−Si−Cu/Ti‐6Al‐4 V. Metallographic preparations, characterizations to conduct laser metal deposition (LMD), microhardness and corrosion test were conducted. It was deduced that Ti‐9Si‐3Cu alloy had the best optimum performance at 1 kW and 1.0 m/min. The hardness and corrosion were optimum improved at reduced scan speeds and increased laser power.