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Article
Influence of Defects on Mechanical Properties of Ti-6Al-4V Components Produced by Selective Laser Melting and Electron Beam Melting
Materials & Design
  • Haijun Gong, Georgia Southern University
  • Khalid Rafi, UL International-Singapore Pte Ltd
  • Hengfeng Gu, North Carolina State University
  • Janaki Ram, Indian Institute of Technology Madras
  • Thomas Starr, University of Louisville
  • Brent Stucker, 3DSIM LLC
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-5-2015
DOI
10.1016/j.matdes.2015.07.147
Disciplines
Abstract

This study evaluates the mechanical properties of Ti–6Al–4 V samples produced by selective laser melting (SLM) and electron beam melting (EBM). Different combinations of process parameters with varying energy density levels were utilized to produce samples, which were analyzed for defects and subjected to hardness, tensile, and fatigue tests. In SLM samples, small pores in amounts up to 1 vol.% resulting from an increase in energy density beyond the optimum level were found to have no major detrimental effect on the mechanical properties. However, further increase in the energy density increased the amount of porosity to 5 vol.%, leading to considerable drop in tensile properties. Samples produced using lower-than-optimum energy density exhibited unmelted powder defects, which, even at 1 vol.% level, strongly affected both tensile and fatigue properties. In EBM, insufficient energy input was found to result in large, macroscopic voids, causing serious degradation in all mechanical properties. These findings are helpful in process optimization and standardization of SLM and EBM processes.

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Citation Information
Haijun Gong, Khalid Rafi, Hengfeng Gu, Janaki Ram, et al.. "Influence of Defects on Mechanical Properties of Ti-6Al-4V Components Produced by Selective Laser Melting and Electron Beam Melting" Materials & Design Vol. 86 (2015) p. 545 - 554 ISSN: 0264-1275
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/haijun-gong/6/