The aim of this study was to determine the influence of heat treatment on the microstructure of single-crystal nickel-based alloy manufactured by selective laser melting with a high-temperature substrate preheating. The change of gamma/gamma prime -phases ratio was established as a result of various heat treatment modes.

Titanium aluminide alloys are considered to be attractive materials for aerospace and automotive high-temperature applications due to their high specific strength, creep resistance, and heat resistance. However, their brittleness makes it difficult to manufacture complex-shaped components of these alloys using conventional processes making additive manufacturing a promising way to produce titanium aluminide parts. Additive manufacturing of titanium aluminide alloys involves high preheating temperatures affecting their microstructure; hence a proper heat treatment is needed to obtain desired properties. In this paper, a titanium aluminide alloy produced using Selective Laser Melting process with a high-temperature preheating was subjected to various heat treatments to study their effects on microstructure and properties of the alloy.

The aim of this study was to determine the influence of selective laser melting (SLM) process parameters on the formation of cracks in nickel-based single crystal alloy. Several sets of laser scanning parameters, with varied laser power, scanning speed and hatch distance, thus resulting in different volumetric and linear energy densities, were investigated. The relationship between energy density, specimen densification, cracks formation and evolution of directional microstructure was shown. It was found that higher linear energy density results in fewer cracking and defects. Cracking in lower energy samples was attributed to the formation of thermal shrinkage pores in the interdendritic spaces and precipitation of Ta, Mo and Nb carbides along the dendrites boundaries.

Selective laser melting (SLM) process has been lately extensively applied in manufacturing of Nickel-based super alloys, which compared to conventional manufacturing routes offers increased design flexibility and simplification of the manufacturing process. However, in order to make SLM process even more beneficial, its process time has to be reduced. One of the ways to tackle this problem is by tailoring process parameters through application of high laser power and base plate pre-heating. In this paper, a comparative study of optimum SLM fabrication conditions of Inconel 718 superalloy under high laser power and with and without plate pre-heating was conducted. Furthermore, the effect of layer thickness on melt pool characteristics, porosity and hardness were investigated to determine how laser power and pre-heating affect microstructure development.