Abstract
Laser material deposition process is an additive
manufacturing technology that is used to produce functional parts directly from the three dimensional (3D) model of the part. It offers a lot of advantages in the surface modification of components, in the repair of existing worn parts, as well as for building parts that is made up of composites and functionally graded materials. This is possible because the laser metal deposition process can handle more than one material simultaneously. Processing parameters are of great importance in achieving the desired properties. Ti6Al4V is the most widely used titanium alloy in the aerospace industry. This is because of its excellent properties. However, the wear resistance behavior of these materials is not impressive because of the surface damage that occurs when they are used in applications that involves contact loadings. In this study, the effect of laser power and scanning velocity on the microstructure, the microhardness and the wear resistance properties of Ti6Al4V/TiC composites has been thoroughly investigated in order to optimize these process parameters. The Ti6Al4V/TiC composites were laser deposited with a composition ratio of 50 W% Ti64 and 50 W% TiC and at 50% overlap percentage. The laser power was varied from 1 to 3.8 kW and the scanning speed was varied between 0.03 and 0.1 m/s. The results shows that the optimum process parameters is at a laser power of about 2.0 kW and the scanning speed of about 0.055 m/s.