Impact of processing parameters on mechanical properties of additively manufactured Ti-based BMGs

Abstract

Additively manufactured bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) are promising materials for demanding use cases. They feature high strength, elasticity and corrosion resistance. The intrinsic high cooling rates of powder bed fusion (PBF-LB/M) allow for the processing of partially amorphous bulk geometries with variable crystalline material fractions, for which a microstructure-induced increase in hardness is reported in this work. The influence of varying laser power and scan speed on crystallinity, hardness, and density, as measured by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Vickers hardness, and optical density determination, is presented for a Ti-based BMG with the composition Ti60Zr15Cu17S8. It is demonstrated that the hardness increases to 353 HV5 at a normalized energy input of E0* =3 with a relative density of >99.95% and a maximized amorphicity.