Boron carbide (B₄C) is highly significant in the production of lightweight protective materials when added to aluminum owing to its exceptional mechanical properties. In this study, a method for fabricating Al-B₄C composites using high-energy ball milling and directed energy deposition (DED) is presented. Al-4 wt.% B₄C composites were fabricated under 21 different laser conditions to analyze the microstructure and mechanical properties at different values of laser power and scan speeds. The composites fabricated at a laser power of 600 W and the same scan speed exhibited the highest hardness and generated the fewest pores. In contrast, the composites fabricated at a laser power of 1000 W exhibited the lowest hardness and generated a significant number of large pores. This can be explained by the influence of the microstructure on the energy density at different values of laser power.

In this study, Ti-Mo-EB composites are prepared by ball milling and spark plasma sintering (SPS) to obtain a low elastic modulus and high strength and to evaluate the microstructure and mechanical properties as a function of the process conditions. As the milling time and sintering temperature increased, Mo, as a β-Ti stabilizing element, diffused, and the microstructure of β-Ti increased. In addition, the size of the observed phase was small, so the modulus and hardness of α-Ti and β-Ti were measured using nanoindentation equipment. In both phases, as the milling time and sintering temperature increased, the modulus of elasticity decreased, and the hardness increased. After 12 h of milling, the specimen sintered at 1000°C showed the lowest values of modulus of elasticity of 117.52 and 101.46 GPa for α-Ti and β-Ti, respectively, confirming that the values are lower compared to the that in previously reported studies.