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Hydrogen-Aided Microstructural Engineering of Additively Manufactured Ti–6Al–4V

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Abstract

Electron beam melting (EBM) additive manufacturing of Ti–6Al–4V subjects the material to complex thermal cycles, resulting in a columnar morphology of the prior \(\beta \) grains (PBGs). While the columnar PBGs of EBM-processed Ti–6Al–4V can be transformed to an equiaxed morphology through a super-transus (i.e., above the \(\beta \)-transus temperature) heat treatment, this also leads to the formation of a coarse lamellar two-phase microstructure. Such a microstructure is prone to strain localization and premature fracture. Herein, we present a thermohydrogen post-process treatment that achieves equiaxed PBG morphology in EBM-processed Ti–6Al–4V without sacrificing mechanical properties. Our results show that a three-step thermohydrogen post-process treatment can transform the columnar PBG morphology to an equiaxed morphology with fine microstructure, and strength and ductility levels comparable to those of the most optimum as-fabricated samples. This three-step thermohydrogen post-process treatment involves hydrogenation and phase transformation treatment in a hydrogen atmosphere, and subsequent dehydrogenation treatment in vacuum. Notably, all these treatments are carried out at temperatures well below the \(\beta \)-transus temperature of hydrogen-free Ti–6Al–4V.

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Acknowledgments

LDH is thankful to Michael Taylor Hurst and Daniel Oliver Lewis of Texas A&M University for their technical assistance with the hydrogenation experiments. AS gratefully acknowledges the financial support provide by the Haythornthwaite Foundation through the ASME/AMD – Haythornthwaite Research Initiation Grant, the US Army Research Laboratory through the cooperative agreement - Materials and Manufacturing Processes for the Army of the Future, and the U.S. National Science Foundation Grant CMMI-1944496.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA

    Lara Draelos-Hagerty, James D. Paramore, Brady G. Butler & Ankit Srivastava

  2. DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory, College Station, TX, 77843, USA

    James D. Paramore & Brady G. Butler

  3. Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Knoxville, TN, 37932, USA

    Peeyush Nandwana

Authors
  1. Lara Draelos-Hagerty
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  2. James D. Paramore
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Correspondence to Ankit Srivastava.

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Conflict of interest

James D. Paramore, and Brady G. Butler have patent #Thermo-hydrogen refinement of microstructure of titanium materials (US10920307B2) issued to University of Utah Research Foundation; US Department of Army.

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Draelos-Hagerty, L., Paramore, J.D., Butler, B.G. et al. Hydrogen-Aided Microstructural Engineering of Additively Manufactured Ti–6Al–4V. Metall Mater Trans B 54, 3451–3461 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11663-023-02924-z

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