Rapid in situ fabrication of Fe/SiC bulk nanocomposites by selective laser melting directly from a mixed powder of microsized Fe and SiC

Fe/SiC bulk nanocomposites were fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM) directly from a simple mixture of microsized Fe and SiC. Uniformly dispersed nanosized SiC particles with a mean particle size of 78 nm were obtained and fine homogeneous needle-shaped martensite and partial pearlitic microstructures were observed in different planes of the SLM-fabricated Fe/SiC composites. The Fe/SiC nanocomposite exhibits much higher strength than pure Fe sample, with an ultimate tensile strength of up to 753 +/- 49 MPa. (C) 2013 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.