Influence of cell shape on mechanical properties of Ti–6Al–4V meshes fabricated by electron beam melting method

Abstract

Ti–6Al–4V reticulated meshes with different elements (cubic, G7 and rhombic dodecahedron) in Materialise software were fabricated by additive manufacturing using the electron beam melting (EBM) method, and the effects of cell shape on the mechanical properties of these samples were studied. The results showed that these cellular structures with porosities of 88–58% had compressive strength and elastic modulus in the range 10–300MPa and 0.5–15GPa, respectively. The compressive strength and deformation behavior of these meshes were determined by the coupling of the buckling and bending deformation of struts. Meshes that were dominated by buckling deformation showed relatively high collapse strength and were prone to exhibit brittle characteristics in their stress–strain curves. For meshes dominated by bending deformation, the elastic deformation corresponded well to the Gibson–Ashby model. By enhancing the effect of bending deformation, the stress–strain curve characteristics can change from brittle to ductile (the smooth plateau area). Therefore, Ti–6Al–4V cellular solids with high strength, low modulus and desirable deformation behavior could be fabricated through the cell shape design using the EBM technique.