High Temperature Oxidation Behavior of Additive Manufactured Ti6Al4V Alloy with the Addition of Yttrium Oxide Nanoparticles

Abstract

Titanium alloys face challenges of high temperature oxidation during the service period when used as aircraft engine components. In this paper, the effect of Y2O3 addition on the oxidation behavior and the microstructural change of the Ti6Al4V alloy fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM) was comprehensively studied. The results show that the surface of the Ti6Al4V alloy is a dense oxide layer composed of TiO2 and Al2O3 compounds. The thickness of the oxide layer of the Ti6Al4V increased from 59.55 μm to 139.15 μm. In contrast, with the addition of Y2O3, the thickness of the oxide layer increased from 35.73 μm to 80.34 μm. This indicates that the thickness of the oxide layer formation was a diffusion-controlled process and, therefore, the thickness of the oxide layer increased with an increase in temperature. The Ti6Al4V-1.0 wt.% Y2O3 alloy exhibits excellent oxidation resistance, and the thickness is significantly lower than that of the Ti6Al4V alloy. The oxidation kinetics of the Ti6Al4V and Ti6Al4V-1.0 wt.% Y2O3 alloys at 600 °C and 800 °C follows a parabolic rule, whereas the oxidation of the Ti6Al4V and Ti6Al4V-1.0 wt.% Y2O3 alloys at 1000 °C follows the linear law. The average microhardness values of Ti6Al4V samples after oxidation increased to 818.9 ± 20 HV0.5 with increasing temperature, and the average microhardness values of the Ti6Al4V-1.0 wt.% Y2O3 alloy increases until 800 °C and then decreases at 1000 °C. The addition of Y2O3 shows a significant improvement in the microhardness during the different temperatures after oxidation.