Abstract
Electron beam melting is an additive manufacturing technology in vacuum that suits Ti‐6Al‐4V parts, which has a high affinity with oxygen. Since the high cost of the feedstock powder, the un‐melted powder is often recycled in the subsequent process. In this study, the influence of powder reuse on the surface characteristics of Ti‐6Al‐4V powder is examined using a variety of technology including scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Auger electron spectroscopy. The modification of surface morphology and chemistry either generally or locally are revealed and discussed, which helps the creation of powder recycling strategy. Compared with fresh virgin powder, “worn” and rougher powder particles are observed after recycling. Meanwhile, the average oxide thickness is slightly increased, and less Al enrichment was found at the surface. Locally varied chemistry/oxide thickness on different powder particles or different location on the same particle is observed.
Highlights
Additive manufacturing (AM) is the general term for all manufacturing techniques where the component is built by adding material layer by layer from a CAD model
Electron beam melting (EBM) works in vacuum environment, which lowers the risk of oxidation, being a good choice for material with high affinity to oxygen
The measurement was repeated at least twice on two specimens. This means X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results shown in this paper provided the average chemical information of the powders
Summary
Additive manufacturing (AM) is the general term for all manufacturing techniques where the component is built by adding material layer by layer from a CAD (computer-aided design) model. This enables faster product development, short development cycles, lighter products, and more efficient use of the material. There are many different additive manufacturing techniques available. Electron beam melting (EBM), developed by the Swedish company Arcam AB, is a core AM technology for building parts using high-energy electron beam, by which a large fraction of thermal energy is released to heat, sinter, and melt the powder material. EBM works in vacuum environment, which lowers the risk of oxidation, being a good choice for material with high affinity to oxygen. It involves the preheating of the powder with build temperature of 600–750C before melting, which reduces the temperature gradient and decreases the residual stresses
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