Performance of Ti6Al4V fabricated by electron beam and laser hybrid preheating and selective melting strategy

Abstract

Electron beam selective melting (EBM) and selective laser melting (SLM) are regarded as significant manufacturing processes for near-net-shaped Ti6Al4V components. Generally, in the conventional EBM process, preheating is necessitated to avoid “smoke” caused by the charging of electrons. In the conventional SLM process, laser as an energy source without the risk of “smoke” can be employed to melt metal powder at low temperatures. However, because of the low absorption rate of laser, the powder bed temperature cannot reach a high level. It is difficult to obtain as-built TiAl4V with favorable comprehensive properties via conventional EBM or SLM. Hence, two types of electron beam and laser hybrid preheating (EB-LHP) combined with selective melting strategies are proposed. Using laser to preheat powder allows EBM to be performed at a low powder bed temperature (EBM-LT), whereas using an electron beam to preheat powder allows SLM to be performed at a high powder bed temperature (SLM-HT). Ti6Al4V samples are fabricated using two different manufacturing strategies (i.e., EBM-LT and SLM-HT) and two conventional processes, i.e., EBM at a high powder bed temperature (EBM-HT) and SLM at a low powder bed temperature (SLM-LT). The temperature-dependent surface quality, microstructure, density, and mechanical properties of the as-built Ti6Al4V samples are characterized and compared. Results show that EBM-LT Ti6Al4V exhibits a higher ultimate tensile strength (981±43 MPa) and a lower elongation (12.2%±2.3%) than EBM-HT Ti6Al4V owing to the presence of α′ martensite. The SLM-HT Ti6Al4V possesses the highest ultimate tensile strength (1,059±62 MPa) and an elongation (14.8%±4.0%) comparable to that of the EBM-HT Ti6Al4V (16.6%±1.2%).