A study of the structure and properties of the metal matrix composite materials obtained by a method of direct laser growing

Due to mechanical properties, Inconel family alloys are proven to be functional materials that are used at elevated temperatures in chemically aggressive environments and under high loads. Development of additive technologies has revealed a potential of these alloys as an initial powder raw material for additive manufacturing machines. In this work, the application of metal matrix composite materials in a direct laser growing technology is studied. The technology of self-propagating high-temperature synthesis is used to manufacture the composite material. The study results show that the application of metal matrix materials in the technology of direct laser growing allows one to increase wettability of ceramic particles by a matrix metal. As a result, the quality of particle-matrix borders is improved, the porosity is decreased, and the uniformity of the distribution of particles in the matrix is increased. The structure of the obtained materials is represented by Inconel 625 matrix alloy and inclusions of TiB2 ceramics. The average size of the ceramic particles is less than 300 nm. It is shown that adding to Inconel 625 powder of a composite metal matrix SHS powder of NiTi-TiB2 in an amount of 5 wt% leads to an increase in the microhardness of the material by 1.5 times relative to the materials obtained from pure Inconel 625. At the same time, there is an increase in the ultimate strength of the materials up to 920 MPa and a decrease in the ductility by 15% relative to the samples made of pure Inconel 625 alloy.