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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of remelting each layer on the homogeneity of nickel-titanium (NiTi) parts fabricated from elemental nickel and titanium powders using laser powder bed fusion (LPBF). In addition, the influence of manufacturing parameters and different melting strategies, including multiple cycles of remelting, on printability and macro defects, such as pore and crack formation, have been investigated.

An LPBF process was used to manufacture NiTi alloy from elementally blended powders and was evaluated with the use of a remelting scanning strategy to improve the homogeneity of fabricated specimens. Furthermore, both single melt and up to two remeltings were used.

The results indicate that remelting can be beneficial for density improvement as well as chemical and phase composition homogenization. Backscattered electron mode in scanning electron microscope showed a reduction in the presence of unmixed Ni and Ti elemental powders in response to increasing the number of remelts. The microhardness values of NiTi parts for the different numbers of melts studied were similar and ranged from 487 to 495 HV. Nevertheless, it was observed that measurement error decreases as the number of remelts increases, suggesting an increase in chemical and phase composition homogeneity. However, X-ray diffraction analysis revealed the presence of multiple phases regardless of the number of melt runs.

For the first time, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, elementally blended NiTi powders were fabricated via LPBF using remelting scanning strategies.

The purpose of this paper is to obtain high-temperature-resistant material with high density and to conduct microstructural investigations of 3D-printed Ni-based alloy 713C specimens.

High-density specimens of Ni-based alloy 713C were obtained by the optimizing selective laser melting (SLM) process parameters and an X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed the occurrence of γ and γ′ phases and the presence of carbides in the SLM-manufactured Ni-based alloy 713C. The analysis of electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) studies suggested a preferred 〈100〉 direction orientation and low angle misorientation for the SLM specimens.

The high-density specimens of Ni-based alloy 713C were obtained by the optimized SLM process parameters. XRD analysis confirmed the presence of γ and γ′ phases and carbides in the SLM-manufactured Ni-based alloy 713C. Analysis of EBSD studies suggested a preferred 〈100〉 direction orientation and low angle misorientation for the SLM specimen.

In this study, 3D-printed Ni-based alloy 713C with a high density of 99% was obtained for the first time, to the best of the authors’ knowledge.