Investigation of Ti-6Al-4V Alloy In Situ Manufactured Using Selective Laser Melting from Elemental Powder Mixture

Abstract

This paper presents the results of the study of Selective Laser Melting (SLM) process for the in-situ synthesis of Ti-6Al-4V alloy from elemental powder mixture. Elemental spherical powders of Ti, Al and V were used to prepare a powder mixture, and then bulk specimens were produced by SLM using different process parameters. The effects of SLM process parameters on samples’ relative density, their chemical composition, the formed microstructure and microhardness before and after heat treatment have been studied. It was shown that volume energy density during the SLM process significantly effects the microstructure and microhardness of Ti-6Al-4V obtained from elemental powders. The difference in microstructure morphology and microhardness remains after heat treatment.