Fabrication and microstructural characterisation of additive manufactured Ti-6Al-4V parts by electron beam melting

An industrial impeller has been successfully fabricated by using Ti-6Al-4V extra low interstitial (ELI) powder via an Arcam A2XX electron beam melting (EBM®) machine. With the introduction of the A2XX, Arcam allowed the production of complex large-scale parts for industrial applications. However, the implementation of as-built metallic additive manufacturing (AM) parts in the industry is still far from straightforward and requires a sound understanding of the processing and the material properties of as-built part. This study examines the EBM thermal process influencing the microstructure evolution of Ti-6Al-4V by the EBM process. Ti-6Al-4V blocks with varying thicknesses were fabricated to simulate the different thickness of complex parts. The microstructure and Vickers hardness were evaluated. This paper mainly contributes to the EBM manufacturing of the industrial impeller and the build thickness dependence of microstructure and mechanical properties in EBM additive manufactured Ti-6Al-4V.

[1]  Jay Patel,et al.  Additive manufacturing , 2016, XRDS.

[2]  E. Collings,et al.  Materials Properties Handbook: Titanium Alloys , 1994 .

[3]  Liu Wei,et al.  Evaluation of microstructural development in electron beam melted Ti-6Al-4V , 2012 .

[4]  David W. Rosen,et al.  Additive Manufacturing Technologies: Rapid Prototyping to Direct Digital Manufacturing , 2009 .

[5]  J. Planell,et al.  Influence of tempering temperature and time on the α′-Ti-6Al-4V martensite , 1996 .

[6]  G. Lewis.  Rapid Manufacturing , 2012, Handbook of Laser Technology and Applications.

[7]  Y. Lei,et al.  Correlation Between Tensile Strength and Hardness of Electron Beam Welded TC4-DT Joints , 2013, Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance.

[8]  C. Chua,et al.  Application of Electron Beam Melting (EBM) in Additive Manufacturing of an Impeller , 2014 .

[9]  J. Ziaja.  Titanium Alloys - Advances in Properties Control , 2013 .

[10]  Thomas Scanlon,et al.  Rapid manufacturing technique used in the development of a regenerative pump impeller , 2009, WCE 2009.

[11]  Ryan B. Wicker,et al.  Microstructures and mechanical properties of electron beam-rapid manufactured Ti–6Al–4V biomedical prototypes compared to wrought Ti–6Al–4V , 2009 .

[12]  J. I. Akhter,et al.  Microstructure evolution during surface alloying of ductile iron and austempered ductile iron by electron beam melting , 2009 .

[13]  S. S. Al-Bermani,et al.  The Origin of Microstructural Diversity, Texture, and Mechanical Properties in Electron Beam Melted Ti-6Al-4V , 2010 .

[14]  Chee Kai Chua,et al.  3D printing and additive manufacturing : principles and applications , 2015 .

[15]  Xibing Gong,et al.  Review on powder-based electron beam additive manufacturing technology , 2014 .

[16]  Timothy P. Quinn,et al.  Effects of processing on microstructure and mechanical properties of a titanium alloy (Ti–6Al–4V) fabricated using electron beam melting (EBM), part 1: Distance from build plate and part size , 2013 .

[17]  R. B. Wicker,et al.  Advanced metal powder based manufacturing of complex components by electron beam melting , 2009 .

[18]  J. Sieniawski,et al.  Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of High Strength Two-Phase Titanium Alloys , 2013 .

[19]  Dichen Li,et al.  Review of main manufacturing processes of complex hollow turbine blades , 2013 .

[20]  T. Bieler,et al.  Effects of working, heat treatment, and aging on microstructural evolution and crystallographic texture of α, α′, α″ and β phases in Ti–6Al–4V wire , 2005 .

[21]  H. J. Rack,et al.  Phase transformations during cooling in α+β titanium alloys , 1998 .

[22]  Sara M. Gaytan,et al.  Evaluation of Titanium Alloys Fabricated Using Rapid Prototyping Technologies—Electron Beam Melting and Laser Beam Melting , 2011, Materials.