Abstract
Complex-shaped TiCx ceramic preforms with a gradient of carbon content in the titanium carbide phase (x changes from 0.7 to 0.98) were fabricated for the first time by Binder jet 3D printing technology. The complex-shaped preforms were infiltrated with molten carbon steel (0.7 wt.% C). Thermodynamic considerations showed that carbon could be transferred from titanium carbide to steel and vice versa according to the initial concentration of carbon (activity) in both phases. After infiltration, solidification and slow cooling, a microstructural gradient was obtained throughout the steel matrix from ferrite, in the region where the steel was in contact with titanium carbide of low carbon content (x = 0.7), to pearlite, in the region where the steel underwent interactions with stoichiometric titanium carbide (x = 0.98). After annealing at 900 °C and quenching in oil, a structural gradient in the steel matrix from ferrite to martensite was obtained, resulting in a hardness gradient of 700–1600 HV. The suggested processing approach allows for fabrication of complex-shaped graded composites with the desired property gradient suitable for a wide range of practical applications.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 198-203 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Materials and Design |
Volume | 118 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 15 2017 |
Funding
This report is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy,1 1 This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan). Office of Science, Office of Advanced Manufacturing, under contract number DE-AC05-00OR22725. The authors express thanks to Mr. Drim Stokhuijzen for assistance with illustrations.
Keywords
- Additive manufacturing
- Ceramic metal composites
- Graded materials
- Steel
- Titanium carbide