Selective laser melting of reduced graphene oxide/S136 metal matrix composites with tailored microstructures and mechanical properties

Abstract

In this work, a novel approach combining liquid deposition with selective laser melting (SLM) is used for fabricating reduced graphene oxide (RGO)/S136 metal matrix composites (MMCs). The grain sizes, crystallographic textures, phase compositions and mechanical properties can be tailored by controlling the RGO content in the RGO/S136 MMCs. The results show that the average grain size reaches its smallest size of 0.75 μm when 0.1 wt% RGO was added to the RGO/S136 MMCs. As the RGO content is increased from 0 wt% to 0.5 wt%, a continuous transition of the grains from the (001) orientation to the (101) and (111) orientations is observed. In addition, the cellular dendritic grains transform into equiaxed fine grains with increasing RGO content. The SLM-prepared RGO/S136 MMCs are dominated by high-angle grain boundaries (˃15°) and the martensite (bcc) phase. The hardness, ultimate tensile strength and yield strength of the SLM RGO/S136 MMCs exhibit trends that initially increase and then decrease, with maximum values of 580.6 HV, 535.3 MPa and 515.8 MPa, respectively. This paper highlights the possibility of controlling the RGO content to achieve the desired microstructural characteristics and mechanical properties of RGO/S136 MMCs fabricated by the SLM process.