Designing an Additively Manufactured Ti-Al-Fe Alloy with a Wide Process Window

Cai, Leyu; Hong, Zixuan; Xu, Feng; Liu, Xinyan; Zhao, Ziyuan; Peng, Jing; Fang, Qihong; Wu, Hong

doi:10.3390/ma18214986

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Open AccessArticle

Designing an Additively Manufactured Ti-Al-Fe Alloy with a Wide Process Window

by

Leyu Cai

¹

,

Zixuan Hong

¹,

Feng Xu

^1,2,

Xinyan Liu

^1,2,

Ziyuan Zhao

¹,

Jing Peng

³,

Qihong Fang

³ and

Hong Wu

^1,*

¹

State Key Laboratory of Powder Metallurgy, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China

²

Farsoon Technologies Co., Ltd., Changsha 410221, China

³

State Key Laboratory of Advanced Design and Manufacturing for Vehicle Body, College of Mechanical and Vehicle Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Materials 2025, 18(21), 4986; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18214986 (registering DOI)

Submission received: 14 October 2025 / Revised: 29 October 2025 / Accepted: 30 October 2025 / Published: 31 October 2025

(This article belongs to the Section Metals and Alloys)

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Abstract

To develop a cost-effective titanium alloy tailored for laser powder bed fusion (LPBF), a novel Ti-5.2Al-5Fe (wt.%) dual-phase alloy was designed and fabricated in this study. The composition was optimized for low density (4.4 g/cm³), high yield strength (1052 MPa), and suitable β-phase stability ([Mo]_eq = 9.3%). The alloy demonstrated excellent formability, achieving high densification (porosity ≤ 2%) and hardness (>400 HV) over a wide volumetric energy density range (48–204 J/mm³). The Al element inhibited balling by improving melt pool wettability, while the Fe element synergistically promoted densification by lowering the liquidus temperature. The as-built microstructure comprised α and β phases, with the α-phase content increasing significantly from 25.4% to 60.8% with higher energy density. While all samples exhibited high tensile strength (>1290 MPa), ductility was limited (<2.6%). EBSD analysis identified the α-phase as the primary carrier of micro-residual stress, with a high density of “zero-solution” points, low-angle grain boundaries, and KAM values. This indicates severe stress concentration from rapid solidification and phase transformation, elucidating the fundamental reason for the low ductility. This study provides systematic insights from composition design to microscopic mechanisms for designing LPBF-dedicated titanium alloys with a wide process window.

Keywords: titanium alloy; laser powder bed fusion; process window; microstructure; mechanical property

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MDPI and ACS Style

Cai, L.; Hong, Z.; Xu, F.; Liu, X.; Zhao, Z.; Peng, J.; Fang, Q.; Wu, H. Designing an Additively Manufactured Ti-Al-Fe Alloy with a Wide Process Window. Materials 2025, 18, 4986. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18214986

AMA Style

Cai L, Hong Z, Xu F, Liu X, Zhao Z, Peng J, Fang Q, Wu H. Designing an Additively Manufactured Ti-Al-Fe Alloy with a Wide Process Window. Materials. 2025; 18(21):4986. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18214986

Chicago/Turabian Style

Cai, Leyu, Zixuan Hong, Feng Xu, Xinyan Liu, Ziyuan Zhao, Jing Peng, Qihong Fang, and Hong Wu. 2025. "Designing an Additively Manufactured Ti-Al-Fe Alloy with a Wide Process Window" Materials 18, no. 21: 4986. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18214986

APA Style

Cai, L., Hong, Z., Xu, F., Liu, X., Zhao, Z., Peng, J., Fang, Q., & Wu, H. (2025). Designing an Additively Manufactured Ti-Al-Fe Alloy with a Wide Process Window. Materials, 18(21), 4986. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18214986

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Designing an Additively Manufactured Ti-Al-Fe Alloy with a Wide Process Window

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