Tensile Properties of Vacuum Heat-treated Ti6Al4V Alloy Processed by Selective Laser Melting

N Hutasoit,M A H Shuva,S H Masood,M A Rhamdhani,K S Pogula

doi:10.1088/1757-899x/377/1/012138

N Hutasoit, M A H Shuva + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899x/377/1/012138

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Abstract

This study presents an investigation on the tensile behaviour of heat-treated titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V) parts, which have been manufactured by Selective Laser Melting (SLM) additive manufacturing. The parts were heat treated at a temperature of 850°C for 2 hours with and without Argon inert gas in a vacuum furnace. The tensile properties of the SLM samples with and without heat treatment have been compared to evaluate the mechanical performance of the 3D printed samples. The ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of as built Ti6Al4V part was found to be 1175 MPa. The UTS of heat-treated Ti6Al4V sample in vacuum without Argon gas was found to be 750MPa, while the UTS of heat-treated sample in vacuum with Argon gas was recorded as 980MPa. These values compare well with other published values of UTS for SLM built Ti6Al4V alloys with similar heat-treated conditions. The work also studied the micro-hardness of all the samples and compared the values with each other and found that the heat treated sample have lower average Vickers hardness values compared to as built samples.

Highlights

In recent years, Titanium (Ti) alloys have been the most used alloys in industries like aerospace and biomedical field because of their excellent properties like corrosion resistance, lightweight with high strengths
Huang et al [9] investigated tensile properties of titanium alloys fabricated on Renishaw AM250 Selective Laser Melting (SLM) machine for different heat treatment conditions, which included different temperatures and duration in Argon followed by water quenching or air cooling or furnace cooling
They found that the SLM sample with heat treatment at 800C for 2 hours followed by air cooling had the highest breaking elongation of 17% compared to 5.37% for as-built sample with no heat treatment

Summary

Introduction

Titanium (Ti) alloys have been the most used alloys in industries like aerospace and biomedical field because of their excellent properties like corrosion resistance, lightweight with high strengths. Several researchers have investigated the mechanical properties of Ti6Al4V parts manufactured by Selective Laser Melting (SLM) additive manufacturing technology They have studied the tensile, fatigue, porosity and micro hardness of Ti6Al4V with or without the heat treatment of the SLM built parts. Huang et al [9] investigated tensile properties of titanium alloys fabricated on Renishaw AM250 SLM machine for different heat treatment conditions, which included different temperatures and duration in Argon followed by water quenching or air cooling or furnace cooling They found that the SLM sample with heat treatment at 800C for 2 hours followed by air cooling had the highest breaking elongation of 17% compared to 5.37% for as-built sample with no heat treatment. The effect of heat treatment in vacuum and Argon atmosphere on tensile properties of Ti6Al4V parts processed by ProX200 Selective Laser Melting machine from 3D Systems is presented. A comparison of obtained results is made with the results of other similar studies of the same alloy fabricated on other SLM machines

Selective Laser Melting and Heat Treatment

Mechanical testing and Microstructure analysis

Findings

Result and discussion

Conclusions