Influences of postproduction heat treatments on the material anisotropy of nickel-aluminum bronze fabricated using wire-arc additive manufacturing process

The anisotropy of wire-arc additively deposited nickel-aluminum bronze alloy is studied by microstructure observation and room temperature mechanical property testing. The applied heat treatments have effectively modified the as-fabricated {0 1 1} , {1 1 1} texture into {1 1 1}. According to the microstructures, the single tempering has resulted in lowest anisotropy while heat treatment with prior homogenization and quenching process induces even intensified annealing textures. However, as shown by the tensile tests, the quenching process is necessary for favorable mechanical properties in the wire-arc additive manufacturing fabricated nickel-aluminum bronze component; therefore, a balance between homogenization annealing and κ-phase precipitation is indicated. Meanwhile, the function of κ-phase precipitates on grain rotation and growth during post-production heat treatment is explained in detail.