Intensified texture in selective electron beam melted Ti-6Al-4V thin plates by hot isostatic pressing and its fundamental influence on tensile fracture and properties

Abstract

A batch of six Ti-6Al-4V plates (5 mm thick, 45 mm wide, 220 mm high) were fabricated by selective electron beam melting (SEBM) and half of them were subsequently processed by hot isostatic pressing (HIP) at 920 °C for 2 h under 100 MPa in argon. The aim of this study was to investigate the texture change induced by HIP and its influence on tensile performances. Detailed texture analyses revealed that applying a default HIP treatment to SEBM Ti-6Al-4V thin plates intensified the texture component of 〈0002〉 (normal to the plate flat surface) in the α-phase due to variant selection. Consequently, this resulted in a noticeable reduction in deformation constraint for prismatic slip, which, in turn, changed the tensile fracture mode from a mixed type corresponding to both normal and shear stresses to a shear-dominated type. The change in tensile properties after HIP contained the influence of HIP-induced changes in texture.