In the present study, the gas tungsten arc welding wire feed additive manufacturing process is simulated and its final microstructure predicted by microstructural modelling, which is validated by microstructural characterization. The Finite Element Method is used to solve the temperature field and microstructural evolution during a gas tungsten arc welding wire feed additive manufacturing process. The microstructure of titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V is computed based on the temperature evolution in a density-based approach and coupled to a model that predicts the thickness of the α lath morphology. The work presented herein includes the first coupling of the process simulation and microstructural modelling, which have been studied separately in previous work by the authors. In addition, the results from simulations are presented and validated with qualitative and quantitative microstructural analyses. The coupling of the process simulation and microstructural modeling indicate promising results, since the microstructural analysis shows good agreement with the predicted alpha lath size.

Variation of texture in Ti-6Al-4V samples produced by three different additive manufacturing (AM) processes has been studied by neutron time-of-flight (TOF) diffraction. The investigated AM processes were electron beam melting (EBM), selective laser melting (SLM) and laser metal wire deposition (LMwD). Additionally, for the LMwD material separate measurements were done on samples from the top and bottom pieces in order to detect potential texture variations between areas close to and distant from the supporting substrate in the manufacturing process. Electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) was also performed on material parallel and perpendicular to the build direction to characterize the microstructure. Understanding the context of texture for AM processes is of significant relevance as texture can be linked to anisotropic mechanical behavior. It was found that LMwD had the strongest texture while the two powder bed fusion (PBF) processes EBM and SLM displayed comparatively weaker texture. The texture of EBM and SLM was of the same order of magnitude. These results correlate well with previous microstructural studies. Additionally, texture variations were found in the LMwD sample, where the part closest to the substrate featured stronger texture than the corresponding top part. The crystal direction of the α phase with the strongest texture component was [112¯3].

Electron beam melting (EBM) is emerging as a promising manufacturing process where metallic components are manufactured from three-dimensional (3D) computer aided design models by melting layers onto layers. There are several advantages with this manufacturing process such as near net shaping, reduced lead times and the possibility to decrease weight by topology optimization, aspects that are of interest for the aerospace industry. In this work two alloys, Ti-6Al-4V and Alloy 718, widely used within the aerospace industry were investigated with X-ray microtomography (XMT), to characterize defects such as lack of fusion (LOF) and inclusions. It was furthermore possible to view the macrostructure with XMT, which was compared to macrostructure images obtained by light optical microscopy (LOM). XMT proved to be a useful tool for defect characterization and both LOF and un-melted powder could be found in the two investigated samples. In the EBM built Ti-6Al-4V sample high density inclusions, believed to be composed of tungsten, were found. One of the high-density inclusions was found to be hollow, which indicate that the inclusion stems from the powder manufacturing process and not related with the EBM process. By performing defect analyses with the XMT software it was also possible to quantify the amount of LOF and un-melted powder in vol%. From the XMT-data meshes were produced so that finite element method (FEM) simulations could be performed. From these FEM simulations the significant impact of defects on the material properties was evident, as the defects led to high stress concentrations. It could moreover, with FEM, be shown that the as-built surface roughness of EBM material is of importance as high surface roughness led to increased stress concentrations.

Successive thermal cycling (STC) during multi-track and multi-layer manufacturing of Alloy 718 using electron beam melting (EBM) process leads to a microstructure with a high degree of complexity. In the present study, a detailed microstructural study of EBM-manufactured Alloy 718 was conducted by producing samples in shapes from one single track and single wall to 3D samples with maximum 10 longitudinal tracks and 50 vertical layers. The relationship between STC, solidification microstructure, interdendritic segregation, phase precipitation (MC, δ-phase), and hardness was investigated. Cooling rates (liquid-to-solid and solid-to-solid state) was estimated by measuring primary dendrite arm spacing (PDAS) and showed an increased cooling rate at the bottom compared to the top of the multi-layer samples. Thus, microstructure gradient was identified along the build direction. Moreover, extensive formation of solidification micro-constituents including MC-type carbides, induced by micro-segregation, was observed in all the samples. The electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) technique showed a high textured structure in 〈001〉 direction with a few grains misoriented at the surface of all samples. Finer microstructure and possibility of more γ″ phase precipitation at the bottom of the samples resulted in slightly higher (~11%) hardness values compared to top of the samples.

The focus of this work has been microstructure characterisation of Ti-6Al-4V manufactured by five different additive manufacturing (AM) processes. The microstructure features being characterised are the prior β size, grain boundary α and α lath thickness. It was found that material manufactured with powder bed fusion processes has smaller prior β grains than the material from directed energy deposition processes. The AM processes with fast cooling rate render in thinner α laths and also thinner, and in some cases discontinuous, grain boundary α. Furthermore, it has been observed that material manufactured with the directed energy deposition processes has parallel bands, except for one condition when the parameters were changed, while the powder bed fusion processes do not have any parallel bands.

Additive manufacturing (AM) has achieved large attention within the aerospace industry mainly because of the possibility to lower the material and the manufacturing cost. For titanium alloys several AM techniques are available today. In the present paper, the focus has been on laser metal wire-deposition of Ti-6Al-4V. Walls were built and low cycle fatigue specimens were cut out in two orientations with respect to the deposition direction. An extensive fractographic evaluation was carried out after testing and the results indicated anisotropic behaviour at low strain ranges. Defects such as pores and lack of fusion (LoF) were observed and related to the fatigue life and specimen orientation. The LoF defects are regarded to have the most detrimental influence on the fatigue life, whilst the effect of pores was not as straightforward. Noteworthy in present study is that one large LoF defect did not influence the fatigue life, which is explained by the prevalence of the LoF defect in relation to the loading direction.

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a relatively new technology that is labelled to be innovative, disruptive, near-net shaping, enabling manufacturing of complex and customised products, for limitless number of applications, directly from the CAD model into real physical parts. For titanium alloys in aerospace applications, AM moreover stands for a reduced material cost, but also for large challenges when considering consistency and qualification of material properties and components in serial production. In the AM process the feedstock material is melted by a heat source that moves according to a building sequence defined by the CAD model. Layer-by-layer the material solidifies into the wanted shape and accordingly the microstructure forms,which determines the average mechanical properties of the manufactured component. However, even if the AM process seems to be very straight forward, the prediction of mechanical and metallurgical properties is complex, partly because of its building in layer nature which generates a complex thermal history dictating the mechanical properties, and partly because of the number of parameters involved during the AM process itself. The objective of the present work was to increase the fundamental understanding of the relationship between microstructure, defects and mechanicalproperties of AM:ed Ti-6Al-4V. Three AM techniques were investigated, namely laser metal-wire deposition (LMwD), electron beam melting (EBM), and gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) wire feed AM, with the main focus on LMwD. The different techniques were evaluated with regard to microstructure and tensile and fatigue properties. In addition, the EBM Ti-6Al-4V was tested in a hydrogen atmosphere to simulate the working environment for a certain engine application. One of the core findings in the present work was that AM:ed Ti-6Al-4V exhibited a columnar microstructure with elongated prior beta grains growing through several layers following the temperature gradient direction in the built material. To cover the different characteristics of the columnar microstructure, the mechanical properties were evaluated in two orientations of the built Ti-6Al-4V. The mechanical properties, both static and dynamic, were found to be anisotropic, which was further evaluated indetail with respect to the microstructure evolution and defects generated by the AM process. Among the results, when different process conditions were tested, it was concluded that the thickness of the grain boundary alpha along the prior beta grain boundary did not influence the level of anisotropy. However, the prior beta grain boundary was observed to be the weakest microconstituent when the load was applied perpendicular to its prevalence in both tensile and LCF testing. In order to get a better understanding of how the columnar microstructure influences the fatigue properties, the fatigue crack propagation characteristics were investigated with respect to the columnar prior beta grains and crystal orientation. An extensive fractographic study was carried out on all tested specimens. Lack of fusion (LoF) defects were concluded to be the individually most detrimental type of defect to the material properties. The influence of the LoF defects was further concluded to be very dependent on its prevalence in relation to the loading direction; the largest impact on the fatigue life was observed when the LoF defect wasperpendicular to the loading direction. Finally, a part of the aim of the present work was to support the development of a microstructure model that will be implemented in a thermo-mechanical model when simulating AM of Ti-6Al-4V. In order to validate the material model developed, the alpha lath thickness and the fraction of grain boundary alpha were quantified atspecific locations in single and multiple bead walls of GTAW wire feed AM:ed Ti-6Al-4V and compared with the results of the simulated AM process of Ti-6Al-4V.

In the present paper laser metal wire deposition of Ti-6Al-4V has been studied and the mechanical properties evaluated. The yield strength, ultimate tensile strength and tensile elongation were all found to depend on the orientation of the specimens with respect to the deposition direction. Two orientations in the deposited material were evaluated in the study, perpendicular and parallel to the deposition direction. The specimens in the perpendicular orientation showed 25–33% higher elongation than the specimens parallel to the deposition direction. The parallel specimens on the other hand showed both higher (4%) ultimate tensile strength and higher (2–5%) yield strength. Furthermore, the anisotropic mechanical properties were correlated to the microstructural constituents of the specimens

Solid metal induced embrittlement (SMIE) occurs when a metal experiences tensile stress and is in contact with another solid metal with a lower melting temperature. SMIE is believed to be a combined action of surface self-diffusion of the embrittling species to the crack tip and adsorption of the embrittling species at the crack tip, which weakens the crack tip region. In the present study, both SMIE of the near alpha alloy Ti-8Al-1Mo-1V in contact with copper and its influence on crystallographic orientation have been studied. U-bend specimens coated with copper were heat treated at 480°C for 8 hours. One of the cracks was examined in detail using electron backscatter diffraction technique. A preferable crack path was found along high angle grain boundaries with grains oriented close to [0001] in the crack direction; this indicates that there is a connection between the SMIE crack characteristics and the crystallographic orientation.

In order to save weight in a certain engine application the possibility of replacing the currently used material with cast Ti-6Al-4V is investigated here. The working environment for this particular engine part is pure hydrogen gas at high pressure. Therefore selected mechanical properties such as tensile and low cycle fatigue (LCF) in air and hydrogen atmosphere have been studied for cast Ti-6Al-4V. In addition to cast Ti-6Al-4Vt the corresponding mechanical properties of a more recently developed additive manufacturing method, electron beam melting (EBM), is also investigated in hydrogen and compared with cast Ti-6Al-4V. Cast Ti-6Al-4V showed lower yield strength and lower ultimate tensile strength in hydrogen compared with air. However, no significant change in the ductility was observed. The LCF was significantly reduced in the hydrogen atmosphere, mostly at high strain range (π 2%). The EBM Ti-6Al-4V in hydrogen showed higher yield strength, higher ultimate strength and higher ductility as well as improved fatigue life compared with cast Ti-6Al-4V under the same test conditions. Microstructural and fractographic characterization were also performed and the results are included.