Laser deposition of graded γ-TiAl/Ti₂AlNb alloys: Microstructure and nanomechanical characterization of the transition zone

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a transformative technology to the aerospace industry. As one of the AM techniques, laser metal deposition (LMD) enables the fabrication of engine blades and a disk, as a single component, known as blisk. In this study, we use the LMD technique to fabricate a γ-TiAl/Ti₂AlNb graded metallic alloy by depositing γ-TiAl powder on a Ti₂AlNb alloy substrate. High-resolution scanning electron microscope (SEM) and high-speed nanoindentation are employed to characterize the microstructure and mechanical properties of the transition zone from the Ti₂AlNb substrate (disk) to the γ-TiAl alloy (blade). The results show that the transition zone includes three layers (I, II and III) with gradient compositions and phases: (I) mainly β/B2 matrix with randomly distributed α₂ and γ phases, (II) (α₂ + γ) lamella with γ and β/B2 phases, and (III) similar microstructure with Layer II but finer γ and β/B2 phases. The results of nanoindentation mapping show good correlations between the mechanical properties (nanohardness and elastic modulus) and microstructure in the transition zone. Attributing to the rule of mixtures, the nanohardness and elastic modulus gradually increase from the substrate Ti₂AlNb to Layer I, and gradually decrease from Layer I to γ-TiAl. This work demonstrates that the microstructure and phase analysis in combination with high-speed nanoindentation offers a new opportunity to study graded materials made using LMD.