Strong and ductile titanium via additive manufacturing under a reactive atmosphere

Pure metals tend to have a superior malleability compared to alloys. However, the applicability of pure metals is limited by their low strengths and hardness properties. In this study, strong and ductile pure Ti was synthesized via an approach involving powder modification and additive manufacturing (AM) under a reactive atmosphere. Specifically, pure Ti was processed by laser powder bed fusion in an environment containing a mixture of argon and nitrogen gases. In-situ high-energy synchrotron X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that in-situ nitrogen strengthening of the pure Ti occurs during the reactive AM of Ti. Furthermore, the presence of a nitrogen solid solution leads to the formation of high-strength pure Ti (yield strength of-979 MPa and ultimate tensile strength of-1058 MPa, respectively). This material exhibits excellent uniform elongation (11%) due to strong work hardening caused by the interaction of interstitial elements and submicrostructure. The proposed reactive AM approach paves the way for in -situ strengthening of pure metals and alloys.(c) 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

In this study, strong and ductile pure Ti was synthesized via a reactive additive manufacturing method. The Ti was processed using laser powder bed fusion in an environment containing a mixture of argon and nitrogen gases. The presence of a nitrogen solid solution led to the formation of high-strength pure Ti with excellent uniform elongation, due to strong work hardening caused by the interaction of interstitial elements and submicrostructure. This reactive additive manufacturing approach opens up possibilities for in-situ strengthening of pure metals and alloys.