Abstract:
This study aims to explore novel manufacturing solutions for the controllable fabrication of functional Ni-Mn-Ga alloys and complex components through laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) technology combined with optimized heat treatment strategies. The results show that defects including pores, cracks, and lack-of-fusion are generated during laser processing, with cracks primarily originating from significant thermal stresses induced by rapid solidification. Within the optimized processing window, samples achieve a relative density exceeding 97.5%, displaying an L2
1-ordered austenitic structure at 295 ~ 301 K temperature. Following homogenization, ordering and stress-relief annealing treatments, the alloy demonstrates improved compositional homogeneity, narrowed phase transformation temperature interval, and elevated phase transition characteristic temperatures by approximately 20 K, and significantly enhanced magnetization. At ambient temperature, the heat-treated material exhibits a mixed-phase structure comprising L2
1-ordered austenite and five-layered modulated (5M) martensite structures. The heat-treated material achieves a saturation magnetization of 65.8(A·m
2)/kg under a 5 T magnetic field at 300 K. L-PBF can fabricate functional Ni-Mn-Ga magnetic shape memory alloys.