Ball Milling Treatment of Nb and B Nanoparticles Modified TiAl4822 Composite Powder and Its Effect on Powder Bed Quality and Powder Spreadability in Additive Manufacturing

Ball milling treatment is a low‐cost and achievable large‐scale production method for preparing the composite powder used for the laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) process. For the ball‐milled composite powder, good powder spreadability and composition homogeneity are essential for obtaining the LPBF‐fabricated part with good forming quality. In this article, the Nb and B nanoparticles modified TiAl4822 composite powder with a nominal composition of Ti‐47.53Al‐1.98Cr‐2.81Nb‐0.15B are prepared via ball milling. It is found that the physical properties of the composite powder are more sensitive to the milling time than the milling speed and ball‐to‐powder ratio. Long‐time milling is inclined to cause the formation of broken particles, poor powder flowability, and high oxygen contamination. Besides, the process maps between the ball milling energy E t and particle size distribution width, the static angle of repose, composition inhomogeneity, and oxygen content are established, respectively. Results show that when the applied E t is insufficient or excessive, the degree of sphericity or composition homogeneity always worsens. In these cases, deposition defects such as line or area defects are more prone to occur, due to the enhanced particle rearrangement resistance induced by the addition of nanoparticles.