Faculty Publications
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Item Fretting wear behavior on LPBF processed AlSi10Mg alloy for different heat treatment conditions(Elsevier Editora Ltda, 2024) Nanjundaiah, R.S.; Rao, S.S.; Praveenkumar, K.; Prabhu, T.R.; Shettigar, A.K.; Gowdru Chandrashekarappa, M.; Linul, E.To widen the industrial application of additively manufactured (AM) parts, the study of fretting wear behavior is essential, as it ensures the safety and reliability that drive innovation in design and materials. This study explores the fretting wear behavior of the as-built and heat-treated state of AlSi10Mg alloy fabricated, viz., laser powder bed fusion (LPBF). Initially, the as-built and T5, T6, and stress-relieved (SR) heat-treated samples were examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to gain insights into the microstructural changes. The as-built samples exhibited a higher hardness level (135 HV) primarily due to the presence of very fine microstructure of the α-Al cellular matrix with embedded Si. The α-Al cellular structure dissolved with various heat treatments, and Si particles coarsened. The hardness decreased to 85, 79, and 67 HV for the T5, T6, and SR conditions, respectively. Subsequently, fretting tests were conducted on the samples, applying various normal loads of 10, 50, and 100 N. Further, the samples were characterized by the coefficient of friction (COF), worn surface morphology, and wear volume loss. The investigation showed that the as-built material showed less wear volume loss under all loading conditions than the heat-treated conditions. Furthermore, the T5 heat treated sample had a lower wear volume when compared to the T6 and SR heat-treated samples. The heat-treated sample exhibits compressive stress, whereas the LPBF processed, the as-built sample shows tensile stress. © 2024 The AuthorsItem Influence of friction and back stresses evolution on cyclic softening of laser powder bed fusion Ti-6Al-4V ELI alloy(Elsevier B.V., 2024) Goyal, A.; Ranjan, A.; Ravi, B.; Karagadde, S.Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) of Ti-6Al-4V ELI enables the fabrication of complex and individualized load-bearing patient-specific implants (PSI). These PSI are subjected to cyclic loading, which necessitates their fatigue performance evaluation. In this work, the fatigue properties of LPBF Ti-6Al-4V ELI in heat-treated conditions were characterized by studying the low cycle fatigue (LCF) behavior and underlying deformation mechanism. The fully reversed strain-controlled fatigue tests were performed at various strain amplitudes at room temperature. The ratio of fatigue life of conventional wrought alloy and LPBF Ti-6Al-4V ELI at the lowest (0.8 %) and the highest (1.8 %) strain amplitudes were found to be approximately 2.7 and 4.5, respectively. Further, the softening response during fatigue loading was correlated to the variation in the back and friction stresses. The TEM observations revealed that the dislocation pileup along α/β interfaces caused an increase in dislocation density, which drives the increase in back stress. However, the ease of slip transmission at high strain amplitude (1.8 %) reduced the heterogeneity between α and β phases, causing a decrease in the back stress. The TEM observations further suggested that the dislocation annihilation and subsequent rise in dislocation-free zones in α-phase reduced the friction stress at all strain amplitudes, which resulted in cyclic softening of LPBF Ti-6Al-4V ELI. © 2024 Elsevier B.V.Item Effect of Build Orientation on Anisotropy in Tensile Behavior of Laser Powder Bed Fusion Fabricated SS316L(Springer, 2024) Thanumoorthy, R.S.; Chaurasia, J.K.; Anil Kumar, V.A.; Pradeep, P.I.; Balan, A.A.S.; Rajasekaran, B.; Sahu, A.; Bontha, S.In the present study, Stainless steel 316L (SS316L) cylindrical specimens were fabricated at two different build orientations and two different laser powers using Laser powder bed fusion process (LPBF). Microstructural characterization such as XRD, SEM, EBSD analysis and tensile testing were carried out on fabricated specimens in stress relieved condition to understand the anisotropic behavior of LPBF printed specimens. Horizontally oriented specimens showed higher tensile strength when compared to vertically oriented specimens for both laser powers. XRD and EBSD phase maps did not reveal the presence of any secondary phases. However, build orientation and laser power affected the crystallite size of the samples. Bimodal grain structure comprising coarse columnar grains and fine equiaxed grains were observed from the micrographs. With variation in build orientation, there was a significant change in the average grain size of the specimens. High dislocation density was observed in horizontally oriented samples built at low laser power because of dislocation annihilation that can occur at high temperatures. However, EBSD analysis revealed random weak crystallographic texture which does not vary significantly with laser power or build orientation. Variation in grain size, grain morphology, sub-grain features and dislocation density are the reasons for the anisotropic tensile behavior observed in LPBF printed SS316L coupons in stress relieved condition. © ASM International 2023.Item Effect of surface remelting on the characteristics of IN718 components fabricated using laser powder directed energy deposition(Institute of Physics, 2024) Thanumoorthy, R.S.; Jadhav, S.V.; Oyyaravelu, R.; Bontha, S.; Balan, A.A.S.Laser Powder Directed Energy Deposition (LP-DED) fabricated components exhibit poor surface finish, necessitating additional post-processing steps prior to their practical application. Enhancing the surface quality of additively manufactured IN718 specimens through conventional post-processing methods is particularly challenging, given the material’s poor machinability and the complexity of the fabricated components. The current study is centered on comprehending the impact of Laser Surface Remelting (LSR) on the surface properties of Laser Powder Directed Energy Deposited (LP-DED) IN718 material. To gain insights into how remelting influences surface characteristics, remelting was carried out using various sets of parameters. The remelted zone exhibited a refined grain structure, leading to increased hardness. Moreover, significant reductions in surface roughness and residual stress were observed in the remelted samples. Regression analysis indicated that laser power played a pivotal role, with positive impact on surface finish and depth of influence but a negative impact on residual stress and hardness. Therefore, considering all the comparison metrics, remelting using laser power of 150 W and a scan speed of 1140 mm min−1 were found to yield optimal surface conditions. © 2024 IOP Publishing Ltd. All rights, including for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies, are reserved.Item Thermal life assessment of laser powder-directed energy deposited NiCrAlY/CuCrZr bimetallic clad for rocket nozzle applications(Elsevier B.V., 2024) Thanumoorthy, R.S.; Urs, S.S.; Bontha, S.; Balan, A.S.S.To enhance the thermal life of rocket exhaust nozzles, the hot side of copper liners is coated with thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) to provide thermal insulation and oxidation resistance. However, interface failures often occur between M-CrAlY bond coats and nozzle liners due to significant differences in their thermal expansion coefficients (CTE). This study explores the use of Laser Powder-Directed Energy Deposition (LP-DED) to clad NiCrAlY onto a CuCrZr substrate, as the process offers localized heating which can offer better bond strength. Optimization trials were conducted using single and multi-track studies to identify optimal parameters. Due to the low energy absorption of the CuCrZr substrate to 1070 nm laser sources, cladding was performed at a high energy density of 135 J/mm2 with a 1.2 g/min feed rate to achieve defect-free clads with sufficient diffusion. The bulk of the NiCrAlY clads showed ??-Ni3Al, ?-NiAl, and ?-Ni phases, while Y4Al2O9 and Y2O3 oxides formed on the top surface due to aluminum and yttrium depletion at high temperatures. The clads exhibited cellular dendritic microstructures at the bulk region, and planar microstructures were observed at the dilution zone. EBSD-KAM maps showed higher dislocation density near the interface due to CTE mismatch across substrate and clad. Scratch tests confirmed strong adhesion with no interface cracks, though crack propagation was observed from the edges after 50 isothermal cycles, driven by copper erosion. With Cu diffusion, interface region exhibited a graded microstructure which could enhance CTE, improving compatibility compared to standard NiCrAlY alloys. © 2024 Elsevier B.V.Item Effect of age hardening precipitates on the corrosion performance of laser Powder-Directed energy deposited CuNi2SiCr(Elsevier B.V., 2024) Urs, S.S.; Thanumoorthy, R.S.; Aswith Babu, I.; Doddamani, M.; Bontha, S.; Balan, A.S.S.This study explores Laser Powder ? Direct Energy Deposition (LP-DED) processing of CuNi2SiCr and the effect of heat treatment on corrosion behavior. The findings pave the way to increasing the life of the components and the possibility of refabrication upon failure. LP-DED manufactured CuNi2SiCr was subjected to solution treatment followed by age-hardening at 500? for 1,3,5 and 7 h. The microstructure analysis showed the formation of Cr3Ni precipitates due to a higher cooling rate in the LP-DED process. Upon aging, Ni3Si, Ni2Si, and CrSi2 precipitates evolved. Due to the Orowan phenomenon, microhardness increases with the aging time as the number of precipitates along the grain boundary increases with the aging time. The 5-hour aged sample exhibited the best corrosion resistance due to precipitation coherency in the matrix and the medium-sized precipitates with uniform precipitation-free zones (PFZ) in the grain boundary. © 2024 Elsevier B.V.Item Tailoring the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Laser Powder-Directed Energy-Deposited Inconel 625 Using Scan Strategies(Springer, 2025) Aromal, S.S.; Malathesh, P.B.; Thanumoorthy, R.S.; Agasti, S.K.; Praharaj, A.K.; Anil Kumar, V.A.; Sudarshan Rao, G.S.; Bontha, S.The current study is focused on the influence of different scan strategies on the microstructural evolution, crystallographic texture, and mechanical properties of the Inconel 625 (IN625) fabricated using the laser powder-directed energy deposition (LP-DED) process. Prior to the deposition of the bulk specimens, an optimized set of process parameters (laser power (P), scan speed (v), and feed rate (f)) was selected through analysis of single-track deposits. The single tracks were thoroughly analyzed based on the aspect ratio, track stability, dilution, and shape of the melt pool. Further, six rectangular blocks of IN625 with different scan strategies (unidirectional ? 0°, bidirectional ? 0°, 45°, 67°, 90°, and spiral) were fabricated using the optimized process parameters for deposition. Samples with a 0° unidirectional scan strategy exhibited higher yield strength values but lower ductility. Notably, the sample with a scan orientation of 67° exhibited superior isotropic properties that are required to bear intense multi-axial loads when compared to other samples. The results indicated that the sample with a 67° scan orientation has the best combination of both strength and ductility. This can be attributed to finer cells/grains, which occur due to fragmentation of cells/grains during their growth across the successive layers, a higher fraction of low-angle grain boundaries (LAGBs), and variation of vector length within a layer. EBSD analysis revealed that samples with a 67° scan orientation exhibited a random crystallographic texture (MUD = 2.2), which suggests isotropic behavior compared to other samples. © ASM International 2025.Item Solar-Driven additive Manufacturing: Design and development of a novel sustainable fabrication process(Elsevier Ltd, 2025) Hazoary, A.; Panwar, M.; Singh Rajput, A.S.; Kapil, S.Additive Manufacturing (AM) is revolutionizing industries by enabling layer-by-layer fabrication of complex components. Among AM techniques, Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) is widely used but is energy-intensive, limiting its sustainability. This study explores the potential of concentrated solar energy as an alternative heat source for sintering Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) in a solar-powered 3D printing process. A custom-designed solar 3D printer, equipped with stepper motors and an Arduino UNO for precise control, was utilized to evaluate critical process parameters such as feed rate, hatch spacing, and layer thickness. The results indicate that feed rate and hatch spacing are pivotal to energy density, directly influencing sintering quality. Optimal sintering occurred at feed rates between 100–200 mm/min, which provided sufficient energy for uniform layer fusion, balancing surface finish and mechanical strength. Larger feed rates resulted in incomplete sintering and weaker parts, while a hatch spacing of 1.67 mm offered efficient pass binding with reduced build time. The study successfully demonstrated the fabrication of multilayer TPU structures using solar energy, achieving mechanical properties comparable to conventional LPBF techniques. This solar-powered approach underscores the potential for integrating renewable energy into additive manufacturing, offering a sustainable alternative to laser-based systems. Future refinements, such as dynamic solar tracking and real-time parameter adjustments, could further enhance its industrial viability. By leveraging renewable energy, this research represents a significant step toward eco-friendly manufacturing solutions, reducing energy consumption and carbon footprint while maintaining high-quality outputs. © 2025 International Solar Energy SocietyItem Mechanical and chemical post-treatments for enhancement in tribological performance of laser powder directed energy deposited Inconel 625(Elsevier B.V., 2025) Praharaj, A.K.; Byregowda, T.; Bontha, S.; Suvin, P.S.Laser powder-directed energy deposition (LP-DED) technique has shown tremendous potential to fabricate high-performance superalloy parts for real engineering applications. However, certain disadvantages like poor surface quality and incompetent mechanical and wear properties limit its practical usage. Hence, the current work investigates the effect of different post-processing techniques, including laser shock peening (single shot) (LSP1), laser shock peening (three shots) (LSP2), shot peening (high pressure) (SP1), shot peening (low pressure) (SP2), glass bead blasting (GB), sand blasting (SB), and electroless coating (EC) on the surface quality, hardness, and wear resistance of Inconel 625 (IN625) samples fabricated by LP-DED technique. EC sample resulted in the least surface roughness value (0.09 µm), whereas LSP2 sample exhibited the highest increase of 32.4 % in hardness compared to the as-polished (AP) sample. This can be attributed to grain refinement and the plastic deformation in the samples. Further, the wear test confirmed that LSP2 sample resulted in the lowest coefficient of friction (0.6) and wear rate (0.58 × 10-4 mm3/N.m) among the post-processed samples. © 2025 Elsevier B.V.Item A novel NiCrAlY-Cu based bond coat for rocket nozzle applications through LP-DED process(Elsevier Ltd, 2025) Thanumoorthy, R.S.; Vijay, A.; Bontha, S.; Balan, A.S.S.This study explores the development of a novel bond coat for copper-based substrates with the goal of minimizing thermal expansion mismatch and enhancing thermal life in rocket nozzle applications. The effect of copper (Cu) addition on the microstructure, phase evolution, and thermo-mechanical behavior of NiCrAlY clads fabricated via laser powder-directed energy deposition (LP-DED) is systematically investigated to optimize their performance. SEM and elemental mapping reveal a shift from columnar to cellular substructures with Cu additions up to 20 wt%, while higher Cu contents lead to coarse dendritic growth and Cu segregation at grain boundaries, inducing localized strain and crack formation. XRD and DFT analyses indicate that Cu suppresses the ?-NiAl phase and stabilizes the ?-Ni matrix due to its limited solubility in ? and preferential partitioning into ?. High-temperature XRD and EDS analyses show that while pure NiCrAlY forms a continuous alumina scale, Cu-enriched clads develop fragmented and crack-prone thermally grown oxides (TGOs), compromising the oxidation resistance. KAM analysis suggests reduced lattice strain at 10 wt% Cu, followed by increased dislocation density at higher concentrations. Thermal expansion measurements indicate a significant increase in the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) at 10 wt% Cu, improving compatibility with Cu-based substrates. However, further Cu additions yield minimal CTE benefits while degrading mechanical strength. Microhardness declines from ?406 Hv (0 % Cu) to ?251 Hv (40 % Cu) due to solid solution softening and ?-phase suppression. A radar plot comparing key metrics identifies 10 wt% Cu as the optimal composition, offering a balanced property set for regeneratively cooled rocket nozzle systems. © 2025 Elsevier B.V.