Effect of ultrasonic vibrations on mass efficiency and microstructure of laser direct deposition Inconel 718 superalloy

•Mass deposition increases by 25% when acoustic power remains below the threshold.•Ultrasonic vibrations lead to larger grains and more subgrains.•Ultrasonic vibrations boost the cooling rate, reducing the Laves phase by over 30%. Laser direct deposition (LDD) is widely used to repair and manufacture high-value industrial components. However, it faces various defects, such as porosity, cracks, non-uniform microstructure, lack of fusion, keyhole phenomenon, element segregation, and undesirable secondary phases. A method to manage these defects is to concurrently apply ultrasonic vibrations (USV) during the LDD process. This study investigates the effect of USV on the mass efficiency and microstructure of LDD Inconel 718 superalloy to understand how incorporating USV can change the performance and structural integrity of single passes produced using the LDD process. For this purpose, USV is applied to a substrate during the LDD process. The resulting samples are characterized and analyzed using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The results indicate that applying USV below a threshold power value increases mass deposition by over 25%, while exceeding this threshold reduces it. Attention to this threshold power value is crucial for determining the process parameters, including laser power and speed. Additionally, USV transforms the microstructure from columnar to equiaxed and increases subgrain formation. This implementation also enhances the cooling rate, significantly decreasing the Laves phase by over 30% in all process parameters.