Laser Material Deposition (LMD) is an additive manufacturing near-net-shape process. Metal powder particles are molten by means of a laser heat source and added to a substrate creating geometries. This technology offers the possibility of generating coatings, repairing damaged high-added-value parts, and manufacturing components with complex 3D geometries. Many industrial sectors, including aerospace and die and mold industries, are interested in this process due to its capabilities and the wide range of materials that can be used with it.

Previous works aimed to develop a protective gas module to be able to process highly reactive materials without the necessity of a complete inert atmosphere inside the machine. Additionally, the influence of a mixture of argon and helium on the LMD process for other non-highly reactive alloys was evaluated. Hence, the present work aims to broaden the understanding of how the combination of these two factors may affect the LMD process, combining these previous studies and evaluating the phenomenon for a highly reactive alloy like Ti6Al4V. The study involves the melt-pool temperature measurement and characterization of the deposited clads variating not only the composition of the protective gas but also the flow rates.