scholarly journals Turning of Additively Manufactured Ti6Al4V: Effect of the Highly Oriented Microstructure on the Surface Integrity

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 2842
Author(s):  
Lucia Lizzul ◽  
Rachele Bertolini ◽  
Andrea Ghiotti ◽  
Stefania Bruschi

Additive manufacturing processes induce a high orientation in the microstructure of the printed part due to the strong thermal gradients developed during the process caused by the highly concentrated heat source that is used to melt the metal powder layer-by-layer. The resulting microstructural anisotropy may have an effect on the post-processing operations such as machining ones. This paper investigates the influence of the anisotropy in turning operations carried out on laser powder bed fused Ti6Al4V parts manufactured with different scanning strategies. The machinability under both transverse and cylindrical turning operations was assessed in terms of surface integrity, considering both surface and sub-surface aspects. The effect of the different cooling conditions, that is flood and cryogenic ones, was studied as well. The outcomes showed that the microstructural anisotropy had a remarkable effect on the machining operations and that the cryogenic cooling enhanced the effect of the anisotropy in determining the surface integrity.

Author(s):  
Tan Pan ◽  
Lan Li ◽  
Xinchang Zhang ◽  
Aaron Flood ◽  
Sreekar Karnati ◽  
...  

Powder bed fusion (PBF) is one of the most popular techniques in additive manufacturing (AM). The PBF technique of selective laser melting (SLM) consolidates powder layer by layer using a laser as the energy source. This technique ensures the processes capability of fabricating components with internal and external complex geometries, which could be challenging to make with conventional manufacturing methods. However, the cyclic heating and cooling inherent in this process give rise to the buildup of residual stresses, which can distort or completely deform the part. In this work, a screening build with nine factors was designed to investigate the effects of component size, support structure, and energy input on the build completion and average distortion induced by the inherent residual stress. Experimental results indicated that support hatch spacing, part thickness, and support contact spacing played dominant roles in the final quality (i.e. resultant deformation) of the built parts. The identified significant factors from this study can be carefully selected to increase the success rates of single builds and improve the qualities (i.e. geometric accuracy) of the final products.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 231-240
Author(s):  
Laura Wirths ◽  
Matthias Bleckmann ◽  
Kristin Paetzold

AbstractAdditive Manufacturing technologies are based on a layer-by-layer build-up. This offers the possibility to design complex geometries or to integrate functionalities in the part. Nevertheless, limitations given by the manufacturing process apply to the geometric design freedom. These limitations are often unknown due to a lack of knowledge of the cause-effect relationships of the process. Currently, this leads to many iterations until the final part fulfils its functionality. Particularly for small batch sizes, producing the part at the first attempt is very important. In this study, a structured approach to reduce the design iterations is presented. Therefore, the cause-effect relationships are systematically established and analysed in detail. Based on this knowledge, design guidelines can be derived. These guidelines consider process limitations and help to reduce the iterations for the final part production. In order to illustrate the approach, the spare parts production via laser powder bed fusion is used as an example.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo Qian ◽  
Hongri Fan ◽  
Jianrui Zhang ◽  
Tengfei Li ◽  
Jiangtao Xi ◽  
...  

AbstractAiming at laser powder bed fusion of GH3536 nickel base alloy, the effects of different scanning strategies on microstructure, porosity and mechanical properties were explored. In the aspect of microstructure and micro hardness of the sample, three scanning strategies had little difference; in the aspect of macro mechanical properties of the sample, the slope subarea scanning was better than the helix and island scanning. On this basis, the slope subarea scanning was selected as the optimal scanning strategy to form the G-surface structure, and the compression performance of G-surface was studied. The results showed that: (1) the compression performance of G-surface structure was smaller than that of solid structure, The compression strength of G-surface can only reach about 20% of solid structure: the average strength value of G-surface is 220 MPa, solid structure is 1.1 GMpa; while G-surface structure had a smooth compression curve, which indicated the good energy absorption characteristics; (2) with the increase of wall thickness, the mechanical performance of G-surface structure was also enhanced, while the energy absorption capacity was constantly reduced; (3) with the same wall thickness, the compression performance of sample in building direction (BD) is higher than that in horizontal direction (HD).


Materials ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 450
Author(s):  
Johan Lindwall ◽  
Andreas Lundbäck ◽  
Jithin James Marattukalam ◽  
Anders Ericsson

The development of process parameters and scanning strategies for bulk metallic glass formation during additive manufacturing is time-consuming and costly. It typically involves trials with varying settings and destructive testing to evaluate the final phase structure of the experimental samples. In this study, we present an alternative method by modelling to predict the influence of the process parameters on the crystalline phase evolution during laser-based powder bed fusion (PBF-LB). The methodology is demonstrated by performing simulations, varying the following parameters: laser power, hatch spacing and hatch length. The results are compared in terms of crystalline volume fraction, crystal number density and mean crystal radius after scanning five consecutive layers. The result from the simulation shows an identical trend for the predicted crystalline phase fraction compared to the experimental estimates. It is shown that a low laser power, large hatch spacing and long hatch lengths are beneficial for glass formation during PBF-LB. The absolute values show an offset though, over-predicted by the numerical model. The method can indicate favourable parameter settings and be a complementary tool in the development of scanning strategies and processing parameters for additive manufacturing of bulk metallic glass.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (16) ◽  
pp. 7559
Author(s):  
Elena Bassoli ◽  
Silvio Defanti ◽  
Emanuele Tognoli ◽  
Nicolò Vincenzi ◽  
Lorenzo Degli Esposti

High cost, unpredictable defects and out-of-tolerance rejections in final parts are preventing the complete deployment of Laser-based Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) on an industrial scale. Repeatability, speed and right-first-time manufacturing require synergistic design approaches. In addition, post-build finishing operations of LPBF parts are the object of increasing attention to avoid the risk of bottlenecks in the machining step. An aluminum component for automotive application was redesigned through topology optimization and Design for Additive Manufacturing. Simulation of the build process allowed to choose the orientation and the support location for potential lowest deformation and residual stresses. Design for Finishing was adopted in order to facilitate the machining operations after additive construction. The optical dimensional check proved a good correspondence with the tolerances predicted by process simulation and confirmed part acceptability. A cost and time comparison versus CNC alone attested to the convenience of LPBF unless single parts had to be produced.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mevlüt Yunus Kayacan ◽  
Nihat Yılmaz

Abstract Among additive manufacturing technologies, Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) is considered the most widespread layer-by-layer process. Although the L-PBF, which is also called as SLM method, has many advantages, several challenging problems must be overcome, including part positioning issues. In this study, the effect of part positioning on the microstructure of the part in the L-PBF method was investigated. Five Ti6Al4V samples were printed in different positions on the building platform and investigated with the aid of temperature, porosity, microstructure and hardness evaluations. In this study, martensitic needles were detected within the microstructure of Ti6Al4V samples. Furthermore, some twins were noticed on primary martensitic lines and the agglomeration of β precipitates was observed in vanadium rich areas. The positioning conditions of samples were revealed to have a strong effect on temperature gradients and on the average size of martensitic lines. Besides, different hardness values were attained depending on sample positioning conditions. As a major result, cooling rates were found related to positions of samples and the location of point on the samples. Higher cooling rates and repetitive cooling cycles resulted in microstructures becoming finer and harder.


Author(s):  
Raja A. ◽  
Mythreyi O. V. ◽  
Jayaganthan R.

Ni based super alloys are widely used in engine turbines because of their proven performance at high temperatures. Manufacturing these parts by additive manufacturing (AM) methods provides researchers a lot of creative space for complex design to improve efficiency. Powder bed fusion (PBF) and direct energy deposition (DED) are the two most widely-used metal AM methods. Both methods are influenced by the source, parameters, design, and raw material. Selective laser melting is one of the laser-based PBF techniques to create small layer thickness and complex geometry with greater accuracy and properties. The layer-by-layer metal addition generates epitaxial growth and solidification in the built direction. There are different second phases in the Ni-based superalloys. This chapter details the micro-segregation of these particles and its influence on the microstructure, and mechanical properties are dependent on the process influencing parameters, the thermal kinetics during the process, and the post-processing treatments.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Kolb ◽  
Reza Elahi ◽  
Jan Seeger ◽  
Mathews Soris ◽  
Christian Scheitler ◽  
...  

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the signal dependency of the camera-based coaxial monitoring system QMMeltpool 3D (Concept Laser GmbH, Lichtenfels, Germany) for laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) under the variation of process parameters, position, direction and layer thickness to determine the capability of the system. Because such and similar monitoring systems are designed and presented for quality assurance in series production, it is important to present the dominant signal influences and limitations. Design/methodology/approach Hardware of the commercially available coaxial monitoring QMMeltpool 3D is used to investigate the thermal emission of the interaction zone during LPBF. The raw images of the camera are analysed by means of image processing to bypass the software of QMMeltpool 3D and to gain a high level of signal understanding. Laser power, scan speed, laser spot diameter and powder layer thickness were varied for single-melt tracks to determine the influence of a parameter variation on the measured sensory signals. The effects of the scan direction and position were also analysed in detail. The influence of surface roughness on the detected sensory signals was simulated by a machined substrate plate. Findings Parameter variations are confirmed to be detectable. Because of strong directional and positional dependencies of the melt-pool monitoring signal a calibration algorithm is necessary. A decreasing signal is detected for increasing layer thickness. Surface roughness is identified as a dominating factor with major influence on the melt-pool monitoring signal exceeding other process flaws. Research limitations/implications This work was performed with the hardware of a commercially available QMMeltpool 3D system of an LPBF machine M2 of the company Concept Laser GmbH. The results are relevant for all melt-pool monitoring research activities connected to LPBF, as well as for end users and serial production. Originality/value Surface roughness has not yet been revealed as being one of the most important origins for signal deviations in coaxial melt-pool monitoring. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the direct comparison of influences because of parameters and environment has not been published to this extent. The detection, evaluation and remelting of surface roughness constitute a plausible workflow for closed-loop control in LPBF.


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