Microstructure of Ti-6Al-4V produced by selective laser melting

Ti-6Al-4V is the most widely used titanium alloy. Manufacturing of Ti-6Al-4V components using novel additive processing techniques such as selective laser melting is of great interest. This study focuses on the microstructure characterisation of Ti-6Al-4V components produced by selective laser melting (SLM) with full (Ti-6Al-4V base plate) and partial (Ti-6Al-4V needle-shaped bed) support. The starting material, a plasma atomised powder, and the component products are studied using various microscopy techniques including optical, scanning electron and transmission electron microscopy and electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD). Powder particles are fully dense, possess a spherical shape and are composed of acicular α phase. The as-built material shows oriented acicular martensitic phase with well defined columnar grains. The morphology of martensitic phase and microstructural evolution will be discussed in relation to the SLM processing parameters employed and the different cooling rates experienced by the components.