3D Printed Titanium-Aluminum-Vanadium Alloy Produced at Various Laser Powers: Evaluation of Microstructures and Mechanical Characteristics

Abstract

Abstract Achieving 3D printed Ti6Al4V alloy with customized microstructures and mechanical characteristics remains challenging, wherein the processing efficiency mainly depends on the laser energy, mass deposition rate, and duration. Based on these factors, a simple and eco-friendly direct laser metal deposition approach was followed to get 3D printed Ti6Al4V alloys at various laser powers (300–500 W). Herein, a 1.5 kW continuous fiber laser of wavelength 1080 nm was used to create the stable and dense alloy. The obtained 3D printed specimens were characterized to assess the laser power-dependent microstructures, compositions, microhardness, grain sizes, color-filling and dimensional stability in terms of height/width. FESEM micrographs of the obtained alloys revealed the existence of porous spherical grains of mean size in the range of 50–81 𝜇𝑚. The alloy deposited at 300 W and 0.495 mm/s scan speed displayed the maximum hardness (excellent bong strength) value of 859.2 HV0.5 devoid of any crack and porosity. XRD patterns of the alloy revealed the existence of α + β martensitic phase transformation which as responsible for the marginal increase of hardness. It is asserted that the proposed 3D printed Ti6Al4V alloy can be beneficial for the development of efficient structural parts desired for diverse applications.