Effect of Laser Power on the Deposition of Alloy 718 Powder on Alumina Substrate Using Laser Directed Energy Deposition: A Single-Track Study

Welding or brazing of metals to ceramics often leads to failures under aggressive conditions due to abrupt changes in physical, chemical, and thermal properties at the metal-ceramic interface. Metal-ceramic Functional Graded Materials (FGMs) replace the strict interface with a gradual transition of composition and properties, which protects the material from failures. The powder-blown Laser-Directed Energy Deposition (DED-LB) is one of the widely known Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes that offer unique features like developing FGMs and multi-material structures. Various studies have been conducted to process metal-ceramic FGMs using the DED-LB process but significant differences in thermal properties, varying laser-material interactions, and the possibility of formation of complex reaction products make the processing of metal-ceramic FGMs challenging. This study aims to understand the effect of laser power on a ceramic substrate, and its interaction with a metal powder introduced in the melt pool. A single track of nickel-based superalloy Alloy 718 powder was deposited on an Alumina substrate with different laser powers. The deposition was performed with and without substrate pre-heat to understand the effect of pre-treatment on deposition. Metallographic analysis was performed to reveal the microstructure of the resolidified metal mixed ceramic region.