Microstructure and mechanical properties of Ti6Al4V/W bimetallic structure via selective laser melting

The titanium alloy Ti–6Al–4 V (TC4) and tungsten (W) possess excellent complementary properties that would be useful for a wide range of industrial applications if they could be suitably combined. Selective laser melting was applied to prepare TC4/W specimens with a bimetallic structure. A strong bond without interfacial macrocracks was obtained by adjusting the laser line energy density to <0.75 J/mm. The bond interface of the bimetallic structure reached a microhardness of 503 ± 20 HV, which was harder than that of the two base materials, and the transverse and longitudinal ultimate compressive strengths were 1510 ± 40 MPa at strains of 20%–22.5%. Three-point bending experiments showed that when TC4 was used as the base material, the flexural strength of the specimen was 2210.5 ± 44.5 MPa. The high strength of the bond interface was attributed to sufficient agitation of the molten pool and reinforcement by fine crystalline grains. The agitation was provided by the melting and elemental diffusion of TC4 owing to the high energy input during the formation of W, and the fine crystalline grains were obtained by the dispersed W particles providing multiple nucleation sites for liquid TC4. The bimetallic structure retained the strength of W and toughness of TC4, which bodes well for its industrial application.