Influence of Substrate Preheating Temperature on the Forming Quality of CuCrZr Alloy Manufactured by Selective Laser Melting
摘要
The influence of substrate preheating temperature on the laser selective melting and forming of CuCrZr alloy is not clear. In this study, laser selective printing was carried out at three substrate preheating temperatures of 80, 120, and 160 °C, respectively, to investigate the influence of preheating temperature on the microstructure and mechanical properties of CuCrZr. The results showed that as the preheating temperature of the substrate increases from 80 to 160 °C, defects such as pores, unfused regions, and cracks were significantly reduced, the densification increased from 99.89 to 99.97%, the hardness remained at around 89 HV with minimal fluctuation, and the maximum tensile strength increased from 230 to 270 MPa. The primary mechanism was that a reduced temperature difference during SLM forming lowered the cooling rate, minimized thermal discrepancies in the molten pool, and thus enhanced the morphological and microstructural uniformity of the molten pool. Additionally, the slow cooling rate facilitated the precipitation of Cr and Zr nanophases from the supersaturated solid solution, induced precipitation strengthening, and improved mechanical properties. Finite element simulations comparing temperature gradients and residual stresses of components under different preheating temperatures showed that the minimum values were achieved at 160 °C. This study provided a reference for clarifying the effect of preheating temperature on the forming quality of SLM-fabricated parts.