Fig. 1: Printability and tensile properties of the CCIMA.

a Schematic diagram showing the manufacturing of CCIMA by the LPBF technique, the red color in molten pool representing the high-temperature region. b The solid samples and hollow samples with intricate lattice structures illustrating the good fabricability of the CCIMA. c The pore defect distribution of the as-printed CCIMA measured by the micro-CT, the color bar corresponding to the volume of the pores. d Engineering tensile stress-strain curves of the as-printed and thermal-stabilized CCIMA samples. e Comparison of ultimate tensile strength versus uniform elongation of the present CCIMA with conventional intermetallic alloys fabricated by various AM techniques, including LPBF, arc-based AM, electron beam powder bed fusion (EPBF), laser metal deposition (LMD), the grey dash line representing the performance boundary between conventional intermetallic alloys and CCIMA.