Material transitions within multi-material laser deposited intermetallic iron aluminides

Laser Metal Deposition is a near-net-shape processing technology, which allows remarkable freedom in multi-material processing. In the present work, the multi-material processing of two intermetallic iron aluminides, Fe28Al(at.%) and Fe30Al5Ti0.7B(at.%), was investigated. It has been shown that multi-material processing of the two alloys via discrete as well as via gradual material transition is possible without any cracks for manufacturing small cubes. Cross-sections of manufactured parts and tracks showed that a preheating temperature of at least 400 °C is necessary to process crack free samples. EDX-analyses indicated that if a discrete material transition is required in multi-material processing, the material transition should be implemented in the vertical build-up direction because the mixing zone in this direction is significantly smaller than the mixing zone in the horizontal direction. Due to the stronger mixing effects in the horizontal direction, a gradual material transition by a linear progression should be implemented in this direction rather than in the vertical direction. The mixing effects are mainly caused by melt flow, while diffusion effects can be neglected.