Fracture Toughness of Ti6Al4V/Cp-Ti Multi-Material Produced via Selective Laser Melting

Multi-materials can locally enhance the properties of products to improve their performance. In some cases, it might be necessary to improve the fracture toughness properties locally. This work is devoted to investigating the fracture toughness of multi-material Ti6Al4V/Cp-Ti specimens produced via laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF). The powder feeding and distributing system of the L-PBF machine was modified for programmable dual-powder feed capability. The multi-material Ti6Al4V/Cp-Ti samples analyzed in this work are layered materials, where the Ti6Al4V alloy serves as the base material and Cp-Ti is present as separate layers. Samples of this type rely on the principle of crack inhibition, where fracture energy is dissipated in the more ductile Cp-Ti layers. Two variants of alternating ductile layers were studied. The microstructure of the materials and interfacial zone were analyzed using an optical microscope. Chemical composition was examined with a scanning electron microscope. The size of the interfacial zone in the multi-material averaged between 250 and 300 μm. A comparison of the tensile tests results with the literature data (of relatively pure Ti6Al4V alloy) reveals that there is a minor reduction in ultimate tensile strength and elongation. The obtained results confirm the possibility of locally increasing fracture toughness through the creation of a multi-material structure using L-PBF.