High Temperature Oxidation Behavior of Additive Manufactured Ti6Al4V Alloy with the Addition of Yttrium Oxide Nanoparticles

Titanium alloys face challenges of high temperature oxidation during the service period when used as aircraft engine components. In this paper, the effect of Y O addition on the oxidation behavior and the microstructural change of the Ti6Al4V alloy fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM) was comprehensively studied. The results show that the surface of the Ti6Al4V alloy is a dense oxide layer composed of TiO and Al O compounds. The thickness of the oxide layer of the Ti6Al4V increased from 59.55 μm to 139.15 μm. In contrast, with the addition of Y O , the thickness of the oxide layer increased from 35.73 μm to 80.34 μm. This indicates that the thickness of the oxide layer formation was a diffusion-controlled process and, therefore, the thickness of the oxide layer increased with an increase in temperature. The Ti6Al4V-1.0 wt.% Y O alloy exhibits excellent oxidation resistance, and the thickness is significantly lower than that of the Ti6Al4V alloy. The oxidation kinetics of the Ti6Al4V and Ti6Al4V-1.0 wt.% Y O alloys at 600 °C and 800 °C follows a parabolic rule, whereas the oxidation of the Ti6Al4V and Ti6Al4V-1.0 wt.% Y O alloys at 1000 °C follows the linear law. The average microhardness values of Ti6Al4V samples after oxidation increased to 818.9 ± 20 HV with increasing temperature, and the average microhardness values of the Ti6Al4V-1.0 wt.% Y O alloy increases until 800 °C and then decreases at 1000 °C. The addition of Y O shows a significant improvement in the microhardness during the different temperatures after oxidation.