Effect of Oxygen Content on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Additive Manufactured Ti-6Al-4V

Titanium alloys are used in many fields including military, aerospace, and biomedical because of their excellent specific strength, corrosion resistance, and biocompatibility. Recently, much research has been focused on addressing the disadvantages of conventional manufacturing methods, including reducing material and energy waste when manufacturing titanium alloy parts by additive manufacturing methods. However, due to rapid cooling, during the additive manufacturing process the material develops acicular and lamellar microstructures, and despite high strength, those features are detrimental to ductility and toughness, as compared with conventionally manufactured alloys. As a result, numerous studies have sought to obtain an equiaxed microstructure through heat treatment. However, the developed heat treatment processes are quite complex, and involve several heat treatment cycles, making such processes economically unfavorable. To overcome these limitations we suggest a different approach to obtaining an equiaxed structure in 3D-printed titanium alloy, by controlling the oxygen level. The present study analyzed the globularization behavior of Direct Energy Deposited (DED) Ti-6Al-4V alloy as a function of oxygen content and a simple heat treatment. The microstructure was globularized through oxygen level control and furnace cooling to compensate the disadvantages in the mechanical properties of additive manufactured alloys.