Tungsten-titanium-carbon base alloys are a promising candidate material for high performance propulsion systems, given their ability to form carbide-metal composites having a fine microstructure consisting of a dispersion of hard titanium carbide particles within a tough tungsten rich metal matrix. These high temperature, non-eroding materials can be produced by laser melting mixtures of tungsten and titanium carbide powders. The fabrication of cast carbide-metal composite components via laser based solid freeform fabrication techniques is currently being explored at the Center for Laser Applications (CLA) at the University of Tennessee Space Institute (UTSI). The microstructure and hardness of the fabricated cast carbide-metal composite components are presented in this paper.

1.
Bozzi
,
A.C.
,
Mello
,
J.D.B.
(
1999
)
Wear resistance and wear mechanisms of WC-12%Co thermal sprayed coatings in three-body abrasion
,
Wear
233-235
,
575
587
.
2.
Staia
,
M.H.
,
Cruz
,
M.
,
Dahotre
,
N.B.
(
2001
)
Wear resistance of a laser alloyed A-356 aluminum/WC composite
,
Wear
251
,
1459
1468
.
3.
Kadolkar
,
P.
,
Dahotre
,
N.
(
2002
)
Variation of structure with input energy during laser surface engineering of ceramic coatings on aluminum alloys
,
Applied Surface Science
199
,
222
233
.
4.
Tucker
,
T.R.
,
Clauer
,
A. H.
,
Wright
,
I. G.
,
Stropki
,
J. T.
(
1984
)
Laser-processed composite metal cladding for slurry erosion resistance
,
Thin Solid Films
118
,
73
84
.
5.
Vilar
,
R.
, (
2001
)
Laser Cladding
,
The International Journal of Powder Metallurgy
37
(
2
),
31
48
.
6.
Glaeser
,
T.
,
Klocke
,
F.
,
Bergs
,
T.
(
2006
)
Liquid phase sintering of tungsten carbide with both cobalt and nickel binder phases by laser radiation
, in
Proceedings of the International conference on tungsten, refractory & hardmetals
VI
,
Orlando, Florida, USA
,
132
140
.
7.
Hickman
,
R.
,
McKechnie
,
T.
,
Agarwal
,
A.
(
2001
)
Net shape fabrication of high temperature materials for rocket engine components
, in
Proceedings of the 37th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference
,
Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
.
8.
Liu
,
J.
,
Kuhn
,
H.
(
2006
)
Manufacture of tungsten/copper components by three-dimensional printing (3DP)
, in
Proceedings of the International conference on tungsten, refractory & hardmetals
VI
,
Orlando, Florida, USA
,
65
70
.
9.
Kruth
,
J.P.
,
Wang
,
X.
,
Laoui
,
T.
,
Froyen
,
L.
(
2003
)
Lasers and materials in selective laser sintering
,
Assembly Automation
23
(
4
),
357
371
.
10.
Rudy
,
E.
(
1973
)
Constitution of ternary titanium-tungsten-carbon alloys
,
Journal of less-common metals
33
,
245
273
.
11.
Rudy
,
E.
, (
1972
)
Method for making castable carbonitride alloys
, US Patent 3703368.
12.
Sears
,
J.W.
(
1999
)
Direct Laser Powder Deposition
, in
Proceedings of the ASTM/TMS Materials Week
,
Cincinnati, OH, USA
,
213
226
.
13.
Sears
,
J.W.
(
2001
)
Solid freeform fabrication technologies: rapid prototyping - rapid manufacturing
,
The International Journal of Powder Metallurgy
37
(
2
),
29
30
.
14.
Hofmeister
,
W.
,
Griffith
,
M.
,
Ensz
,
M.
,
Smugeresky
,
J.
(
2001
)
Solidification in direct metal deposition by LENS processing
,
JOM
53
(
9
),
30
34
.
15.
Hofmeister
,
W.
,
Griffith
,
M.
,
Ensz
,
M.
,
Smugeresky
,
J.
(
2002
)
Melt pool imaging for control of LENS processing
, in
Proceedings of the International Conference on Metal Powder Deposition for Rapid Manufacturing
,
San Antonio, Texas, USA
,
188
194
.
This content is only available via PDF.
You do not currently have access to this content.