Parameter optimization is an important step in the laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF), since process defects greatly impact the mechanical properties of the final parts, especially in components that undergo cyclic loading, such as molds and dies. The present study used the H13 tool steel to show that it is possible to perform a good parameter optimization quickly and with relatively few samples. The Box-Behnken experiment design model was used along with the application of the response surface methodology. Laser power, scan speed, and hatch spacing were used as independent variables, and density and porosity were chosen as the response. Power and speed most influenced the responses, but the interaction between power and speed, and power and hatch also had a significant influence. New optimized samples showed lowest porosity, confirming the effectiveness of the model. Density can be used during parameter optimization without impairing the optimization quality.

Resumo: O presente trabalho teve como objetivo a determinação dos parâmetros ótimos do processo de manufatura aditiva de Fusão Seletiva a Laser (FSL) para o aço 316L visando a obtenção de peças com alta densidade, utilizando equipamento fabricado no Brasil. Foi realizada também uma completa caracterização estrutural tanto da matéria prima utilizada (pó comercial) quanto das peças mais densas obtidas. As propriedades mecânicas das peças produzidas por FSL também foram avaliadas e comparadas com peça fabricada de forma convencional. Foi observado que a densidade das peças aumenta com o aumento da densidade volumétrica de energia fornecida pelo laser até atingir um patamar de máxima densidade. Um modelo polinomial foi proposto correlacionando a densidade volumétrica de energia utilizada com a densidade final da peça. As peças produzidas por FSL mostraram uma elevada densificação (densidade relativa superior a 99,49%) com uma reduzida porosidade homogeneamente dispersa no material. Uma microestrutura austenítica celular, típica do processo FSL, foi obtida. A dureza e a microestrutura das peças se mostrou constante ao longo do comprimento das mesmas e os resultados obtidos em ensaio de compressão mostraram que as peças obtidas por FSL possuem uma resistência mecânica e ductilidade próximas às observadas para amostra fabricada de forma convencional.

Abstract: The present study aimed to determine the optimum parameters for the Selective Laser Melting (SLM) additive manufacturing process of 316L steel in order to obtain high density parts, using equipment manufactured in Brazil. It was also carried out a complete structural characterization of both the raw material used (commercial powder) and the denser parts obtained. The mechanical properties of the parts produced by SLM were also evaluated and compared with parts manufactured by conventional methods. It was observed that the parts’ density increases with increasing energy density applied by the laser until maximum and constant density level is reached. A polynomial model was proposed correlating the energy density used with the final part density. The parts produced by SLM showed high densification (relative density greater than 99,49%) with low porosity homogeneously dispersed in the material. A cellular austenitic microstructure, typical of SLM process, was obtained. The hardness and microstructure of the parts are constant throughout their length and the compression test results showed that parts manufactured by SLM have strength and ductility similar to those manufactured by conventional methods.

The effect of a surface treatment by Nd:YAG laser irradiation on the fatigue behavior of Ti-6Al-4V ELI was studied. Axial fatigue tests were performed to obtain S-N curves in polished and laser treated conditions. Roughness measurements and scanning electron microscopy were used to characterize the features of the modified surface. A reduction in the fatigue strength of around 35% was obtained after the laser treatment of the material surface. Although the surface roughness was in the micrometer scale, a notch effect was suggested to be the reason for the deleterious influence of the laser on the fatigue strength. The reduction in the fatigue strength obligatory demands redesign of implants for laser modified surfaces of Ti-6Al-4V alloy.

The objective of this investigation was to evaluate the influence of surface modification by femtosecond laser (with average fluence of 0.6 J/cm2 and scanning speed of 0.1 mm/s) on the fatigue resistance of Ti-6Al-4V ELI alloy. A significant reduction in the fatigue strength of the material modified by laser was observed. Residual tensile stresses generated during surface modification were negligible, presenting lower values than those found on the unmodified surface. Based on a recently developed and published prediction model, the reduction of the fatigue strength was ascribed to the surface roughness created during the laser treatment of the alloy. An evidence was that the fatigue crack nucleation occurred in the modified region, rather than at the edge of the rectangular specimens as in the untreated condition.

In this work, theoretical composition design and thermo-mechanical treatments were combined in order to improve the mechanical compatibility of a biomedical β-type titanium alloy. By applying a composition design theory, cold rolling and low temperature aging, a metastable β-type Ti-35Nb-7Zr-5Ta (wt%) alloy with an elastic modulus of 47 GPa and a yield strength of 730 MPa was successfully fabricated. This combination of high yield strength and low elastic modulus resulted in enhanced elastic recoverable strain of 1.7%, which is much higher than that of the conventional metallic biomaterials. The microstructure responsible for the much sought-after mechanical properties was observed to be mainly consisted of a homogeneous distribution of nanometer-sized ω- and α-precipitates in a β-phase matrix obtained via cold rolling plus short-time aging at low temperature, i.e. aging at 673 K for 20 min. These precipitates increase the strength of the material by hindering the motion of dislocations while the β-matrix with relatively low content of β-stabilizers gives rise to the observed low elastic modulus. By extending aging time, a higher strength is reached at the expense of an undesirable increasing in elastic modulus.

Cu-based shape memory alloys (SMAs) present some advantages as higher transformation temperatures, lower costs and are easier to process than traditional Ti-based SMAs but they also show some disadvantages as low ductility and higher tendency for intergranular cracking. Several studies have sought for a way to improve the mechanical properties of these alloys and microstructural refinement has been frequently used. It can be obtained by laser remelting treatments. The aim of the present work was to investigate the influence of the laser surface remelting on the microstructure of a Cu-11.85Al-3.2Ni-3Mn (wt%) SMA. Plates were remelted using three different laser scanning speeds, i.e. 100, 300 and 500 mm/s. The remelted regions showed a T-shape morphology with a mean thickness of 52, 29 and 23 µm and an average grain size of 30, 29 and 23µm for plates remelted using scanning speed of 100, 300 and 500 mm/s, respectively. In the plates remelted with 100 and 300 mm/s some pores were found at the root of the keyhole due to the keyhole instability. We find that the instability of keyholes becomes more pronounced for lower scanning speeds. It was not observed any preferential orientation introduced by the laser treatment.

Biomedical devices currently in use (prostheses, implants) have satisfactory performance in many cases. However, sometimes the body reacts to the device insertion and may lead to its rapid replacement. Some of these disadvantages can be solved by the use of titanium and its alloys, due to their excellent combination of corrosion resistance, wear resistance and biocompatibility compared to other competing biomaterials. This paper presents the possibility of obtaining near beta titanium alloy with ultrafine grains produced by severe plastic deformation. For this, the Ti-13Nb-13Zr alloy was processed by high-pressure torsion processing method. Samples were processed with different loads and number of turns. After characterization, it was observed that after applying three turns, a load of 1GPa produces more Ti-beta phase than a load of 6 GPa. However, as expected, the larger the load, the higher the refinement.

Nanotechnology is seeing as having potential to raise benefits to several research and application areas. Recently materials with nanostructured surfaces of nanopores, nanotubes and nanowires have become an important investigation field, since their chemical and physical properties may be substantially different from those of the corresponding substrate. In face of the necessity of assuring that such modifications are not deleterious to the mechanical behavior, the purpose of this work was to evaluate the fatigue performance of CP-Ti grade 2 with the surface modified by the formation of nanotubes on their different crystalline structures. The nanotubes layers were produced by anodic oxidation using a potential of 20V during 1h and a solution of glycerol, H2O and NaF, and analyzed by scanning electron microscopy. In order to obtain the anatase and rutile structures, annealing treatments were respectively performed at 450°C and 650°C. The axial fatigue tests were conducted in physiological solution at 37°C following the stepwise load increase approach. When compared to the material without surface modification (polished surface), the results showed that the anatase phase did not affect the fatigue response, maintaining the fracture stress in 500 MPa, whereas the rutile phase caused a decrease to 450 MPa.

Based on the Fe60Cr8Nb8B24 alloy, reported in the literature as good Glass Forming Ability (GFA), in this study the GFA of two new compositions was proposed, Fe68-xCrxNb8B24 (x=10,12). They were evaluated as good candidates to be new compositions of Bulk Metallic Glasses (BMG) with better corrosion resistance due to the high Cr content. Rapidly solidified glassy ribbons were processed, and based on their thermal characteristics, the critical thickness of the glassy structure formation (Zc) was estimated. The critical thickness (Zc) obtained experimentally using the wedge-shaped casting method was evaluated and it presented a much lower value than that estimated theoretically. However, the GFA of the compositions analyzed was ranked and this ranking (i.e. whichever has the most or least GFA) is in agreement with the result predicted theoretically. The GFA of Fe58Cr10Nb8B24, which presented a maximum thickness of the amorphous region of wedge-shaped samples of about 0.6 mm (but estimated it would be 3.56 mm), offered good prospects to be a new Fe-based glass former alloy which has better resistance to corrosion than the Fe60Cr8Nb8B24 alloy reported.

A structural and mechanical characterization of pure aluminum and 2124 T6 aluminum alloy reinforced with quasicrystalline phases of composition Al65Cu20Fe15 and Al70.5Pd21Mn8.5 (%at.) were performed. The quasicrystalline phases were synthesized by arc melting and then milled to produce powder of the alloys, which were then mechanical mixed with the starting powders of aluminum and 2124 aluminum alloy. The composites were produced by hot extrusion of a mechanical mixture containing 20% (%wt.) of the reinforcing phases on the metallic matrix. The structural characterization of the composites was carried out by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Mechanical characterization was carried out by Vickers hardness measurements and torsion tests at room temperature. The pure aluminum/quasicrystal composite showed the presence of the same phases from the starting powder mixture while for the 2124 aluminum alloy/Al65Cu20Fe15 the quasicrystalline phase transformed to the tetragonal ω-Al7Cu2Fe during the solution heat treatment. Mechanical strength of the composites presented a substantial increase in comparison to the original matrix metal. While the equivalent ultimate tensile strength of the Al/quasicrystal composites reached values up to 215MPa and Vickers hardness up to 60HV, the 2124/quasicrystal composites reached values up to 670MPa and Vickers hardness up to 190HV.

Selective laser melting (SLM) is an additive manufacturing process used to produce parts with complex geometries layer by layer. This rapid solidification method allows fabricating samples in a non-equilibrium state and with refined microstructure. In this work, this method is used to fabricate 3 mm diameter rods of a Cu-based shape memory alloy. The phase formation, thermal stability and mechanical properties were investigated and correlated. Samples with a relative density higher than 92% and without cracks were obtained. A single monoclinic martensitic phase was formed with average grain size ranging between 28 to 36 μm. The samples exhibit a reverse martensitic transformation temperature around 106 ± 2 °C and a large plasticity in compression (around 15±1%) with a typical “double-yielding” behaviour.

A good glass former, Ti57.4Cu33.4Ni9.2, was selected using the topological instability criterion (lambda criterion) and the average electronegativity approach. The crystallization behavior and microstructural development of amorphous melt-spun ribbons of this new composition in response to heat treatment were investigated using a combination of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results indicate that the crystallization of the Ti57.4Cu33.4Ni9.2 alloy takes place through of three exothermic reactions with the nucleation of TiCu, Ti2Cu and Ti2Ni. The kinetics of crystallization were investigated by DSC, and the kinetic parameters were determined using Kissinger’s method.

Consolidation of amorphous powders, which take advantage of the supercooled liquid region, is an alternative way to overcome the size limitation in marginal metallic glasses. Cu36Ti34Zr22Ni8based amorphous powders were obtained during high energy ball-milling. The analyses revealed that amorphous structures of powders and ribbons are quite different and this led to a different thermal behavior being the powders more thermally stable than the ribbons. Extrusion was initially proposed as a consolidation process; however, the decrease in viscosity in remainder amorphous matrix was not sufficient for that process, but certainly sufficient for sintering the sample during hot consolidation. An amorphous/nanocrystalline microstructure known for enhancing the mechanical properties of their fully amorphous counterparts was obtained. Evaluation of mechanical properties by microhardness revealed the relatively high hardness of HV 768. From these results, consolidation by sintering seems a promising route to produce bulk metallic glasses nanocomposites.

Since the early 90's the oil industry has been encouraging the development of corrosion and wear resistant alloys for onshore and offshore pipeline applications. In this context supermartensitic stainless steel was introduced to replace the more expensive duplex stainless steel for tubing applications. Despite the outstanding corrosion resistance of stainless steels, their wear resistance is of concern. Some authors reported obtaining material processed by spray forming, such as ferritic stainless steel, superduplex stainless steel modified with boron, and iron-based amorphous alloys, which presented high wear resistance while maintaining the corrosion performance1,2. The addition of boron to iron-based alloys promotes the formation of hard boride particles (M2B type) which improve their wear resistances3-9. This work aimed to study the microstructure and wear resistance of supermartensitic stainless steel modified with 0.3 wt. (%) and 0.7 wt. (%) processed by spray forming (SF-SMSS 0.3%B and SF-SMSS 0.7%B, respectively). These boron contents were selected in order to improve the wear resistance of supermartensitic stainless steel through the formation of uniformly distributed borides maintaining the characteristics of the corrosion resistant matrix. SF-SMSS 0.7%B presents an abrasive wear resistance considerably higher than spray-formed supermartensitic stainless steel without boron addition (SF-SMSS).

An investigation was made of the stability of melt-spun ribbons of Mm55Al25Ni10Cu10 (Mm = Mischmetal) amorphous alloy. The structural transformations that occurred during heating were studied using a combination of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Crystallization took place through a multi-stage process. The first stage of transformation corresponded to the formation of a metastable phase followed by cfc-Al precipitation, while in the second stage, exothermic transformations led to the formation of complex and unidentified Mm(Cu, Ni) and MmAl(Cu, Ni) phases. The transformation curves recorded from isothermal treatments at 226 °C and 232 °C indicated that crystallization occurred through nucleation and growth, with diffusion-controlled growth occurring in the first crystallization stage. The supercooled liquid region, ∆Tx, at 40 K/min was ~80 K. This value was obtained by the substitution of Mm (=Ce + La + Nd + Pr) for La or Ce, saving chemical element-related costs.