Microstructure and corrosion resistance characteristics of Ti–AlN composite produced by selective laser melting

Abstract

The aim of this study is to produce Ti–AlN via selective laser melting. The results show that the microstructure of the produced alloy is not uniform. The X‐ray diffraction measurements show that the Ti–AlN composite is composed of a Ti matrix, AlN compounds, as well as (TiN)0.88, Al6Ti19, and Al1.1Ti0.9 intermetallics. The as‐printed Ti–AlN is also composed of dendrites of two typical titanium nitrides (TiN and Ti2N) and titanium aluminum nitride (Ti2AlN). Subsequent quenching and annealing slightly change the phase composition of the alloy and is the main reason for their different corrosion behaviors in acidic and chloride‐containing solutions. The results of this study show that the formation of Al‐rich ternary phases improved the corrosion resistance of the three‐dimensional‐printed Ti–AlN after quenching.