Achieving ultrahigh-strength in beta-type titanium alloy by controlling the melt pool mode in selective laser melting

It is challenging to simultaneously achieve nearly full density and high strength in refractory alloys using selective laser melting (SLM). In this study, the achievement of ultrahigh-strength resulting from nearly full density has been reported in beta-type titanium alloy by controlling the melt pool mode in SLM. The melt pool mode was divided into the conduction and keyhole modes, which were determined from the macroscopic morphology of the melt pool in the SLMed Ti-34.2Nb-6.8Zr-4.9Ta-2.3Si (wt%) (TNZTS) alloy single tracks in combination with the keyhole threshold (P·V^−0.5 = 251.3 W (m⋅s⁻¹)^−0.5) calculated theoretically. Compared with condition mode, the keyhole mode has higher porosity and inevitably causes poor mechanical property. Fortunately, by optimizing the SLM process parameters predicted via the keyhole threshold, an ultrahigh-strength and nearly full density (99.7%) TNZTS alloy with conduction mode was obtained by SLM. The alloy exhibited an ultrahigh compressive yield strength of 1286 MPa, which was higher than the majority of the beta-type titanium alloys reported so far. The microstructural analyses indicated that the ultrahigh-strength TNZTS alloy consisted of a thin shell-shaped (Ti, Nb, Zr)₂Si (S2) phase (20–50 nm) around the columnar β-Ti grain boundaries together with an ultrafine dot shaped (Ti, Nb, Zr)₅Si₃ (S1) phase (50–300 nm) in the β-Ti matrix. The ultrahigh strength resulted from high-density dislocations and the effective dislocation blockage by the semi-coherent S1 and coherent S2 phases, thereby leading to the dislocation-strengthening and hardening effect. The strategy utilized in this study provides the fundamental guidelines for generating refractory metallic alloys with high density and excellent performance.