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Influence of Modified Microstructures and Characterized Defects on Tensile Properties and Anisotropy of Selective Laser Melting-Produced Ti6Al4V Alloys

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Abstract

The influences of selective laser melting (SLM) processing and post-processing on microstructure, crystallographic texture and defect characteristic, as well as the tensile property and anisotropy of SLM-produced Ti6Al4V alloys, were extensively studied. The results showed that the microstructure and the defects including micropore, keyhole and lack of fusion (LOF) can be controlled through the optimization of SLM processing and post-processing procedures. Mechanical tests demonstrated that the tensile properties were dependent mostly on the features of α phase/colony which could result in two types of fracture modes. The laminar heat-affected zone (HAZ) and LOF caused by SLM processing should be responsible for the anisotropy in strength and ductility, respectively. However, the presence of columnar grain structure, inherited weak texture, micropore and keyhole has limited effect on the tensile behaviors. The anisotropy can be alleviated through coarsening α phase, forming α colony and controlling defects such as the laminar HAZ and LOF with various process parameters and heat treatment procedures.

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Acknowledgment

The authors wish to thank for the contributions of BLT Company China and HFYC (Zhenjiang) Additive Manufacturing Co., Ltd (AEAM) in manufacturing of designated alloys and providing heat treatment services.

Funding

This work is supported by the financial support from AECC Science and Technology Innovation Platform Program (CXPT-2018-42) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51875541).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University (BUAA), No. 37 Xue Yuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, People’s Republic of China

    Xiangxi Gao & Sujun Wu

  2. AECC Beijing Institute of Aeronautical Materials, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Xiangxi Gao, Chunhu Tao & Bingqing Chen

  3. 3D Printing Research and Engineering Technology Center, AECC Beijing Institute of Aeronautical Materials, Beijing, 100095, People’s Republic of China

    Bingqing Chen

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  1. Xiangxi Gao
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Correspondence to Sujun Wu.

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Gao, X., Tao, C., Wu, S. et al. Influence of Modified Microstructures and Characterized Defects on Tensile Properties and Anisotropy of Selective Laser Melting-Produced Ti6Al4V Alloys. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 31, 7705–7718 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-022-06745-0

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