In situ Alloyed Medium Entropy Alloy Fabricated by Laser Powder Bed Fusion: Microstructure and Cryogenic Performance

Abstract

An investigation is conducted into the feasibility to produce in situ alloyed medium entropy alloy containing four principal elements by laser powder bed fusion of the blended elemental powders. The effect of scan strategy, layer thickness, and laser power on in situ alloying is examined. It is revealed that the melting of Cr particles could be enhanced by increasing the remelting times of each building layer through the re‐scan strategy or reducing the powder layer thickness and by increasing the melting pool depth via large laser power. Besides, the combination of elemental uniformity and the low porosity in the printed alloy can be achieved. The accuracy of the nominal composition in the as‐printed sample could be ensured by the large remelting times combined with middle laser power, while an excessively large laser power could cause the loss of Cr element. Based on the high repetitive remelting process, the mechanism of pores elimination during in situ alloying is discussed. After the optimization, the as‐printed Fe60Co15Ni15Cr10 alloy fabricates with the re‐scan strategy or high laser power shows a tensile strength of ≈1140 MPa and an elongation of ≈0.39 under cryogenic loading. The as‐printed alloy overcomes the strength–ductility trade‐off at cryogenic temperature through the transformation‐induced plasticity.