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Direct metal laser sintering synthesis of carbon nanotube reinforced Ti matrix composites: Densification, distribution characteristics and properties

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Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) reinforced Ti matrix composites with tailored microstructures and properties were fabricated by direct metal laser sintering (DMLS). A relationship of processing conditions, distribution characteristics of CNTs, and properties was established. The appearance of balling phenomenon and micropores at relatively low laser energy input reduced the densification level of DMLS CNTs/Ti composites. As a η of 700 J/m was properly settled, the composite part with a near-full 96.8% density was obtained. On increasing the laser energy input, the distribution states of CNTs in Ti matrix changed markedly from agglomeration to homodisperse. The optimally prepared fully dense CNTs/Ti composite with uniform distribution of CNTs had significantly enhanced Hd of 9.4 GPa and Er of 328 GPa, which showed respectively ∼2.5- and ∼3.4-fold increase upon that of unreinforced Ti, and resultant a relatively low friction coefficient of 0.23 and reduced wear rate of 3.8 × 10−5 mm3/(N m).

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51322509 and 51575267), the Top-Notch Young Talents Program of China, the Outstanding Youth Foundation of Jiangsu Province of China (No. BK20130035), the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (No. NCET-13-0854), the Science and Technology Support Program (The Industrial Part), Jiangsu Provincial Department of Science and Technology of China (No. BE2014009-2), the 333 Project (No. BRA2015368), Science and Technology Foundation for Selected Overseas Chinese Scholar, Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of China, the Aeronautical Science Foundation of China (No. 2015ZE52051), the Shanghai Aerospace Science and Technology Innovation Fund (No. SAST2015053), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Nos. NE2013103 and NP2015206), the Foundation of Graduate Innovation Center in NUAA and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. kfjj20150601), and the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions.

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  1. College of Materials Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, 210016, People’s Republic of China

    Kun Chang & Dongdong Gu

  2. Institute of Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing), Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, 210016, People’s Republic of China

    Kun Chang & Dongdong Gu

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  1. Kun Chang
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Correspondence to Dongdong Gu.

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Chang, K., Gu, D. Direct metal laser sintering synthesis of carbon nanotube reinforced Ti matrix composites: Densification, distribution characteristics and properties. Journal of Materials Research 31, 281–291 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2015.403

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