Abstract
The novelty of the present work lies in applying an in-situ alloying procedure to obtain a metastable Ti-15Nb (wt.%) alloy through laser powder bed fusion (LPBF). Mixing elemental powders of c.p. Ti and c.p. Nb were subjected to different parameter combinations through LPBF and these conditions led to different results regarding microstructure homogeneity, porosity, and properties as a composite of Ti-15Nb matrix with unmelted Nb powder particles. The phases found in the LPBF samples were ά martensite (hcp) and β-Ti matrix (bcc). The lowest hardness of 262 HV was obtained by microhardness test while the highest was 318 HV. However, porosity and unmelted Nb exhibit notable variations and show a distinct trend based on energy density, scanning speed, and laser power. TEM analysis together with ASTAR mapping showed α' martensite needles of 50 to 100 nm width dispersed through the β-Ti matrix. Processing of elemental powders such as Ti and Nb to form an in-situ alloying of Ti-15Nb alloy through laser powder bed fusion with a low Young’s modulus of 64 GPa opens new perspectives for biomedical applications.
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