Ductility and linear energy density of Ti6Al4V parts produced with additive powder bed fusion technology

Abstract

Hybrid metal forming processes involve the integration of commonly used sheet metal forming processes, as bending, deep drawing and incremental forming, with additive manufacturing processes as Powder Bed Fusion. In recent ybears, these integrations have been more developed for manufacturing sectors characterized by components with complex geometries in low numbers, as the aerospace sector. Hybrid additive manufacturing overcomes the typical limitations of additive manufacturing related to low productivity, metallurgical defects and low dimensional accuracy. In this perspective, a key aspect of hybrid processes is the production of parts characterized by high strength and ductility. In the present work, a study was carried out on the influence of process parameters, such as laser power and scanning speed, on material ductility for Ti6Al4V alloy samples produced by Selective Laser Melting. In particular, the material strength and ductility were related to the process linear energy density (LED).