Faculty Publications
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://idr.nitk.ac.in/handle/123456789/18736
Publications by NITK Faculty
Browse
9 results
Search Results
Item Laser Surface Melting of Cold Metal Transfer Wire Arc Directed Energy Deposited AZ31 Mg Alloy(Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2025) Manjhi, S.K.; Bontha, S.; Balan, A.S.S.The deposition of Mg alloy using an additive manufacturing process is challenging due to its volatile nature at high temperatures and difficult handling of Mg powder during fabrication. Therefore, the cold metal transfer wire arc additive manufacturing (CMT-WAAM) process deposits AZ31 Mg alloy because of its tremendous potential to fabricate heat-sensitive materials due to comparatively low heat input and wire as a feed material. However, the mechanical properties of CMT-WAAMed AZ31 Mg alloy are still poor due to pores, microcracks, and poor surface finish. Therefore, deposited components cannot be directly used in the application. Machining is required to make the surface smooth and flat before application. However, microcracks and burrs are the primary issues during milling operation, further reducing the mechanical properties and corrosion performance of deposited parts. Therefore, this study uses the laser surface melting (LSM) process to enhance surface properties by minimizing the microcracks and other CMT-WAAMed AZ31 Mg alloy defects. The obtained results of the 3D profilometer show that the surface roughness (Ra) of machined samples was 3.34 μm, which is reduced to 2.279 μm after laser surface melting treatment. In addition, optical microscope (OM) results exhibited a huge reduction of grain refinement after LSM from 45 ± 3 μm to less than 1 μm with dendrites microstructure. Consequently, the hardness of the surface increased from 60 ± 2 to 143 ± 10 HV due to grain refinement and the formation of secondary phase particles. The grain refinement and uniform distribution of secondary phase particles act as a barrier to Cl−1 corrosive ions, enhancing corrosion resistance after the SLM process. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2025.Item Additive manufacturing of magnesium alloys: Characterization and post-processing(KeAi Publishing Communications Ltd., 2024) Manjhi, S.K.; Sekar, P.; Bontha, S.; Balan, A.S.S.Magnesium and its alloys remain perilous in the framework of light weighting and advanced devices structure such as rockets and satellites. However, the utilization of Magnesium (Mg) is increasing every year, revealing growing demands in manufacturing industries. Manufacturing of Mg components is challenging because of their HCP crystal structure and limited ductility. In this context, additive manufacturing (AM) provides the flexibility to manufacture complex shape components with excellent dimensional stability. It also provides a new possibility for utilizing novel component structures that increase the applications for Mg alloy. This review herein pursues to holistically explore the additive manufacturing of Mg alloy with a synopsis of processes used and microstructure, mechanical properties, corrosion behaviour and postprocessing of AMed Mg alloy. The challenges and future scope of AMed Mg alloys are critically explored. © 2023 The AuthorsItem An Experimental Investigation on Microstructure, Mechanical Properties and Corrosion Performance of CMT-Wire Arc Additively Manufactured Al-4043 Alloy(Springer, 2023) Manjhi, S.K.; Kumar, B.S.S.; Rodrigues, J.P.; Sekar, P.; Bontha, S.; Balan, A.S.S.The wire arc additive manufacturing process (WAAM) has drawn incredible potential to manufacture non-ferrous alloys such as Aluminium and Magnesium. The deposition of Aluminium using a conventional WAAM process resulted in various defects such as porosity, cracks and tensile residual stress owing to high heat input. Therefore, to address these challenges, cold metal transfer wire arc additive manufacturing process (CMT-WAAM) is used to deposit 4043 Al alloy. The microstructure, mechanical properties and corrosion performance of Al 4043 are evaluated to ascertain the quality of deposited parts. The XRD peak intensity and microstructure shows that the main phases are α-Al and MgSi2 eutectics distributed along the grain boundaries of the Al matrix. The grain size of the bottom section is relatively smaller than the middle and top sections due to the high thermal gradient at the beginning of the deposition. Therefore, the hardness increases from the bottom to the top section of the thin wall. In addition, variations in the fraction of secondary phases are also responsible for the variation in hardness. The average UTS and % EL of travel direction (TD) are 177 ± 5 MPa and 20 ± 0.3%, which are relatively higher than the average UTS (164 ± 2 MPa) and % EL (17 ± 0.5%) of build direction (BD). However, the differences are only 10 ± 3 MPa and 2 ± 0.3% EL, exhibiting isotropic mechanical properties. The corrosion rates of the bottom, middle and top sections are 0.172, 0.116 and 0.102 mm/year, which are comparable, exhibiting uniform corrosion resistance of the deposited thin wall. © 2023, The Indian Institute of Metals - IIM.Item Effect of equiaxed grains and secondary phase particles on mechanical properties and corrosion behaviour of CMT- based wire arc additive manufactured AZ31 Mg alloy(Elsevier Ltd, 2023) Manjhi, S.K.; Sekar, P.; Bontha, S.; Balan, A.S.S.Wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) has drawn tremendous attention for manufacturing large and complex components of lightweight material at a moderate cost due to its high deposition rate and energy efficiency. Generally, WAAM-Mg alloy comprises columnar and columnar dendrite grains due to high cooling rates and thermal gradients responsible for anisotropic mechanical properties. To overcome this challenge, in this work, CMT-WAAM, which generally uses comparatively low heat input (33% lower than conventional WAAM), was used to deposit AZ31 Mg thin wall. The metallurgical characterization of the deposited thin wall of the top (T), middle (M) and bottom (B) sections reveals equiaxed grains of average sizes ∼ 58, ∼ 63 and ∼ 38 µm, respectively. In addition, TEM results exhibit the formation of secondary phase particles, i.e., β-Mg17Al12 and ɳ-Al8Mn5. Further, the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and % elongation (% EL) in the travel direction (UTS = 224 MPa, % EL= 23.47%) are superior to that obtained in the build direction (UTS = 217 MPa, % EL = 20.82%). The corrosion resistance of WAAMed AZ31 Mg alloy is higher than wrought (cold rolled) AZ31 Mg alloy in Hank's balanced salt solution (HBSS). The results of this study reveal the potential of CMT-WAAM to deposit different grades of Mg with desired microstructure, mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. © 2023 CIRPItem Hybrid additive manufacturing of ER70S6 steel and Inconel 625: A study on microstructure and mechanical properties(Elsevier Ltd, 2023) Rodrigues, J.P.; Thanumoorthy, R.S.; Manjhi, S.K.; Sekar, P.; Arumuga Perumal, D.A.; Bontha, S.; Balan, A.S.S.Hybrid Additive Manufacturing (HAM) is currently being explored because of its potential to achieve trade-off between build capacity and feature resolution. The present study aims at fabricating ER70S6-Inconel 625 (IN625) bimetallic clad using hybrid Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) and Laser Directed Energy Deposition (LDED) processes. Microstructure evaluation was performed at the cross section of bimetallic clad for distinct materials as well as the interface. WAAM built ER70S6 revealed equiaxed ferritic grains, whereas laser deposited IN625 region showed columnar dendrites with under developed secondary arms. However, the first layer of IN625 exhibited columnar dendrite with secondary arms due to the influence of diffused Fe from the base ER70S6 steel under the action of concentrated laser heat source, which was revealed by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) maps. The measured microhardness across the cross section of the deposit showed values corresponding to inherent material system. The interface did not reveal presence of any intermetallic phases which was confirmed by hardness results and X-Ray diffraction. Shear test revealed superior bond strength between the two materials, maintaining average strength of 452 MPa. The fractography images exhibited fine dimples along with cleavages indicating mixed fracture characteristics. This additive manufacturing method explores a new dimension in multi-material fabrication which, when customized for different materials, serve critical areas in the aerospace and defence sector. © 2023 Elsevier LtdItem Enhancing fatigue performance of AZ31 magnesium alloy components fabricated by cold metal transfer-based wire arc directed energy deposition through LPB(KeAi Communications Co., 2024) Manjhi, S.K.; Bontha, S.; Balan, A.A.S.Cold Metal Transfer-Based Wire Arc Directed Energy Deposition (CMT-WA-DED) presents a promising avenue for the rapid fabrication of components crucial to automotive, shipbuilding, and aerospace industries. However, the susceptibility to fatigue of CMT-WA-DED-produced AZ31 Mg alloy components has impeded their widespread adoption for critical load-bearing applications. In this study, a comprehensive investigation into the fatigue behaviour of WA-DED-fabricated AZ31 Mg alloy has been carried out and compared to commercially available wrought AZ31 alloy. Our findings indicate that the as-deposited parts exhibit a lower fatigue life than wrought Mg alloy, primarily due to poor surface finish, tensile residual stress, porosity, and coarse grain microstructure inherent in the WA-DED process. Low Plasticity Burnishing (LPB) treatment is applied to mitigate these issues, which induce significant plastic deformation on the surface. This treatment resulted in a remarkable improvement of fatigue life by 42%, accompanied by a reduction in surface roughness, grain refinement and enhancement of compressive residual stress levels. Furthermore, during cyclic deformation, WA-DED specimens exhibited higher plasticity and dislocation density compared to both wrought and WA-DED + LPB specimens. A higher fraction of Low Angle Grain Boundaries (LAGBs) in WA-DED specimens contributed to multiple crack initiation sites and convoluted crack paths, ultimately leading to premature failure. In contrast, wrought and WA-DED + LPB specimens displayed a higher percentage of High Angle Grain Boundaries (HAGBs), which hindered dislocation movement and resulted in fewer crack initiation sites and less complex crack paths, thereby extending fatigue life. These findings underscore the effectiveness of LPB as a post-processing technique to enhance the fatigue performance of WA-DED-fabricated AZ31 Mg alloy components. Our study highlights the importance of LPB surface treatment on AZ31 Mg components produced by CMT-WA-DED to remove surface defects, enabling their widespread use in load-bearing applications. © 2024Item Effect of CMT-WAAM Process Parameters on Bead Geometry, Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of AZ31 Mg Alloy(Springer, 2024) Manjhi, S.K.; Sekar, P.; Bontha, S.; Balan, A.A.S.Fabrication of Mg alloys using the additive manufacturing process is quite challenging owing to high oxidation and volatile nature at high temperatures. The present study investigates the effect of wire feed speed (WFS) and travel speed (TS) on single tracks of AZ31 Mg alloy fabricated using the cold metal transfer wire arc additive Manufacturing (CMT-WAAM) process. The WFS and TS of CMT-WAAM are optimized to achieve better deposition quality. An increase in WFS increased the width, height, penetration depth, and heat-affected zone of single tracks. In addition, increasing TS decreased the deposited tracks' contact angle and height. The average grain size at the interface zone, center and top portion of single tracks are 35, 42, and 60 μm. The x-ray diffraction results show only the presence of primary phase α-Mg; interestingly, the β-Mg17Al12 and η-Al8Mn5 secondary phases are identified by SEM + EDS and TEM images. The microhardness increased from the substrate to the top section of single tracks due to the increased volume fraction of secondary-phase particles. Based on the best-chosen process parameters obtained from single-track deposition, a multilayer AZ31 Mg thin wall is deposited. The UTS, YS, and % EL of the deposited thin wall in travel direction (TD) are 222 MPa, 102 MPa, and 18%, while in build direction are 202 MPa, 110 MPa, and 14%, respectively. The tensile strength and elongation % of TD and BD samples exhibited comparable properties and were higher than cast AZ31 Mg alloy. © ASM International 2023.Item The role of surface integrity and microstructure on the machinability of AZ31 Mg alloy fabricated through the CMT-WAAM process(Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2025) Manjhi, S.K.; Bontha, S.; Balan, A.S.S.This investigation explores the porosity, microstructure and mechanical properties of AZ31 Mg alloy fabricated by cold metal transfer-based wire arc additive manufacturing. The X-ray computed tomography (XCT) analysis reveals an average porosity volume of 0.20% with an equivalent diameter range of 0.312–0.783 mm. The as-built part exhibited equiaxed microstructure with different average grain sizes in the built direction (BD) (62.5 ?m) and travel direction (TD) (45.3 ?m). Consequently, mechanical properties in BD and TD are different. Moreover, this study also explores the optimization of milling parameters and the effect of porosity, different grain sizes and secondary phase particles on cutting force, surface roughness, chip formation, and changes in microstructure during milling operation of as-built components. The BD shows higher cutting force with more fluctuation, higher surface roughness, less chip curliness and low microstructure influence depth than TD. EBSD results found that the TD specimens undergo continuous dynamic recrystallization (CDRX) during machining owing to higher plastic deformation and sub-grain rotation, which transforms low-angle grain boundaries (LAGBs) to high-angle grain boundaries (HAGBs), resulting in grain size reduction from 45 ?m to 5 ?m up to 25 ?m depth, which is higher than that of BD. The comparison results of the milled sample in BD and TD show that the TD direction milling (Vc: 157.079 m/min, ft: 0.01 mm/tooth and dc; 1.5mm) gives more favourable outputs. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024.Item Effect of burnishing strategies on surface integrity, microstructure and corrosion performance of wire arc additively manufactured AZ31 Mg alloy(KeAi Publishing Communications Ltd., 2025) Manjhi, S.K.; R, O.; Bontha, S.; Balan, A.S.S.AZ31 Mg alloy is an emerging material that has received considerable attention in aerospace, automotive, and temporary biodegradable implant applications owing to its attractive properties, such as low density, high specific strength, and biodegradability. Nevertheless, some shortcomings in Mg alloys are their low ductility, which is associated with challenging its manufacturing, and poor corrosion resistance associated with unreliable components. Therefore, a cold metal transfer wire arc additive manufacturing (CMT-WAAM) process is used to manufacture AZ31 Mg alloy and achieved 29.4 % ductility by controlling the gas porosity, keyhole porosity, and internal cracks. Further, severe plastic deformation is induced on the surface of deposited parts by low plasticity burnishing (LPB) with parallel and cross-pattern burnishing to modulate their surface to slow down the kinetics of the corrosion damage. The average surface roughness (Sa) of the cross-burnishing pattern is 0.235 ?m, which is 123.6 % lower than the parallel burnished and 261.7 % lower than the milled specimens. The residual stress (RS) of WAAM is 40 MPa with a tensile nature; however, it is drastically reduced and develops compressive RS of 45 MPa under a parallel burnishing pattern and 62 MPa under a cross-burnishing pattern. Moreover, LPB with cross pattern deformed ?395 ?m depth of WAAMed AZ31 workpiece, which is ?45 % higher than deformed depth (?272 ?m) by parallel pattern burnishing. The electrochemical corrosion rate of the WAAM specimen is 9.71 mm/year, and it is reduced to 1.82 mm/year under LPB caused by compressive residual stress and grain refinement. © 2024 The Authors