Abstract
Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) process is a means of producing metal composites with the aid of laser
beam being ejected onto the substrate with the participating powder and fused together after
solidification. In this research work, Ti6Al4V alloy is fused with 20 wt % of B4C in order to form metal
matrix composites (MMCs). Using the Ytterbium Fibre Laser System powdered at 3000 W, the laser
powers were varied between 800 W and 2400 W while all other supporting process parameters were kept
constant. The deposited Ti6Al4V-B4C composites were characterized through the surfacing
microstructure, microhardness and dry sliding wear. The microstructural properties of the deposited
samples were profound with Widmanstätten structure of α-Ti, β-Ti and (α+β) Ti phases. The
microhardness tests revealed that the composites deposited with a laser power of 2000 W exhibited the
highest hardness value and standard deviation of HV 445 ± 61. Furthermore characterisation revealed
that, the sample produced with the laser power of 800 W had the lowest wear loss and wear rate of 35.2 x
10-3 mm3 and 6.42 x 10-4 mm3/Nm. However, the motivation for this work is to improve the material
properties of Ti6Al4V alloy for surface engineering applications.