In-Situ Fabrication of Titanium Iron Intermetallic Compound by the Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing Process
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Titanium iron (TiFe) intermetallic compound is a solid-state hydrogen storage material that can absorb and release hydrogen at ambient temperature and modest pressures, with up to 1.9 wt pct forming stable hydrides. This makes it a promising candidate for hydrogen storage stationary and portable systems in the near future. However, the widespread use of TiFe IMC is restricted due to the ineffective production routes, poor absorption/desorption kinetics, and the difficulty in activation procedure.[1] TiFe should be inexpensive from a manufacturing perspective for the successful integration in hydrogen fuel-based applications. So far, the research focus on TiFe has been solely concentrated in the improvement of hydrogenation characteristics. As a result, all the existing manufacturing processes lack the motivation in fabricating economically favorable TiFe alloy. As a result, the emergence of novel and economical fabrication routes for TiFe and its derivatives has become an increasingly exciting topic in recent times, such as mechanical
G. K. SUJAN, BINTAO WU, ZENGXI PAN and HUIJUN LI are with the Faculty of Engineering & Information Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, 2522, Australia. Contact e-mails: [email protected], [email protected] Manuscript submitted August 1, 2019.
METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS A
alloying (MA),[2–4] molten salt electrolysis,[5,6] hydriding combustion synthesis (HCS),[7] self-ignition combustion synthesis (SICS),[8–10] combustion synthesis,[11,12] and molten oxide electrolysis.[13] Predominantly, traditional casting methods are utilized to fabricate TiFe[14,15] using expensive metallic titanium which are also time- and energy-intensive processes. On the other hand, MA, HCS, and SICS processes have been successfully used to synthesize TiFe compound that use expensive metallic titanium powders. A cost-effective method to fabricate TiFe alloys is the direct electrochemical route from Ilmenite ore in a calcium chloride salt bath. But, it is a long process (25 hours) with low current efficiency (~8 pct).[5] Another cost-effective method is the combustion synthesis of TiFe IMC which uses cheap iron and titanium dioxide powders as raw materials, and a reducing agent as heat source. The major drawback of this method is the contamination of fabricated TiFe product due to the HNO3 washing treatment that affects the hydrogenation process negatively.[12] Also the above-mentioned manufacturing processes yield product in the bulk form which will require various post-fabrication material-removal processes, such as machining to achieve the desired final shaped parts. This will result in wastage of material and eventually increases the manufacturing cost. The wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) process, which is classified as a Direct Energy Deposition (DED) technique, can offer a viable solution in this regard. The WAAM process is a layer-by-layer deposition process to fabricate component parts using a welding arc as heating source and metallic wires as feeding materials, both of which a
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