Effect of martensitic phase formation on the nano-mechanical attributes during the electron beam melting process of Ti-6Al-4V

Abstract

Electron Beam Melting based Ti-6Al-4V parts plays a predominant role in the field of bio medical and aerospace applications, especially in the aero due to its sustainability. However, there were not enough studies on nano-mechanical properties that looked at how phase changes during the heat and cooling process affected the printing process. With the assistance of OM and FESEM with EDX, the EBM Ti64 coupons were analysed for the grain orientation and phase transformation studies. The FESEM with EDX supported the existence of columnar grains and orthogonally oriented martensitic needles. Additionally, both XRD and TEM confirmed the presence of vanadium-rich precipitates and the HCP α-Ti and BCC β-Ti phases. EBSD analysis was adopted to further investigate the orientation of grains. The nano-hardness and elastic reduced modulus mapping confirmed the phase transformation to martensitic phase. The strong “martensitic” phase had a maximum reduced modulus of 183.5 GPa and a hardness value of 7.31 GPa. However, the EBM based Ti64 possesses an average nano-hardness and reduced modulus of 4.26 GPa and 118.3 GPa under the applied load of 2500μN. In addition, topographic wear and scratch tracks confirmed the soft nature of α colonies by forming more piles of materials, while nano-wear and scratch analysis predicted the functions caused by the presence of hard martensitic phases. The SR sensitivity of the Ti64 specimens was investigated using three different quasi-static strain rates. It was determined that the EBM Ti64 parts have a considerable effect over the strain rate, whereas, a quasi-static strain rate allowed for the achievement of the highest possible Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS) and ductility.