Powder recyclability in electron beam melting for aeronautical use

The purpose of this article is to determine if the level of recyclability of atomized Ti-6Al-4V powder, used as raw material in electron beam melting (EBM), is in compliance with aeronautical standards.

The adopted strategy for this study was to manufacture a series of builds in the EBM system recycling the same powder from build to build. Optimized EBM process parameters were used, as well as the common procedure of powder recycling for each build, to emulate real production conditions. The aim of the study is to confirm that the powder properties are kept within the range of chemical contents which complies with the aeronautical standards despite numerous reuses.

The conclusion of this study is that the EBM-processed Ti-6Al-4V powder properties are conserved in consecutive builds with recycled powder. This study shows that significant raw material can be saved by powder recycling since the powder quality is kept in range throughout consecutive builds, despite the working conditions of EBM.

The main two advantages of application of EBM in the aerospace sector are design freedom and reduction of buy-to-fly ratio. The design freedom enables the creation of lightweight structures, which can significantly reduce the fuel consumption, while the reduction of buy-to-fly ratio enables much material saving in manufacturing of aircraft parts.

The present study represents the first complete study on atomized Ti-6Al-4V powder processed in EBM which was made for the sake of aeronautical sector.