Additive Manufacturing of Ti-6Al-4V Using a Pulsed Laser Beam

Microstructural development in directed-energy additive manufacturing of metal components is a complex process that produces parts with materials whose microstructure and properties are influenced by multiple heating and cooling cycles. Much work has been undertaken to correlate microstructural development with processing conditions, such as laser power and processing speed. Here, the microstructure and indentation hardness of a Ti-6Al-4V component processed with a pulsing laser beam and a continuous wave (CW) laser beam are investigated. It is found that the pulsed-beam build showed no statistically significant variation in lath width or indentation hardness with build height while the build deposited with the CW beam showed a statistically significant decrease in hardness and an increase in lath width near the middle of the build. The reduction in variability with beam pulsing is attributed to rapid cooling rates within the melt pool, a greater degree of melt pool stirring, and reduced aging during part build-up.