Ultrasonic Vibration-Assisted Laser Directed Energy Deposition of B4C-Ti Composite: Effect of Laser Power and Ultrasonic Vibration

Abstract Compared with pure titanium, ceramic reinforced titanium matrix composites (TMCs) have the advantages of higher microhardness, higher wear resistance, and better load endurance properties, which enable their further applications under severe friction and cyclic loading conditions. B4C-Ti composite, as a kind of TMCs, has been fabricated by laser directed energy deposition (DED) technology. However, there are still some problems needed to be solved. First, the B4C particles are not fully melted. It suppresses the reactions between B4C and titanium and reduced the generation of TiB and TiC during the fabrication, which deteriorates the hardness of the B4C-Ti composite. Second, the reinforcement materials are not evenly distributed in the titanium matrix, which damages the performance of the B4C-Ti composite. In this study, B4C-Ti composite parts are fabricated by the ultrasonic vibration-assisted laser DED process. The effects of laser power and ultrasonic vibration on the phase compositions, microstructure, and hardness are investigated.