An Additively Manufactured Titanium Alloy in the Focus of Metallography

Abstract

Additive manufacturing processes allow the production of geometrically complex lightweight structures with specific material properties. However, by contrast with ingot metallurgy methods, the manufacture of components using this process also brings about some challenges. In the field of microstructural characterization, where mostly very fine structures are analyzed, it is thus indispensable to optimize the classic sample preparation process and to furthermore implement additional preparation steps. This work focuses on the metallography of additively manufactured Ti‑6Al‑4V components produced in a selective laser melting process. It offers a guideline for the metallographic preparation along the process chain of additive manufacturing from the metal powder characterization to the macro- and microstructural analysis of the laser melted sample. Apart from developing preparation parameters, selected etching methods were examined with regard to their practicality.

Metallographic study and corrosive behavior of titanium alloys for their use in medical applications

“…Lastly, metallographic studies have been done for titanium-based alloys such as Ti-6Al-4V obtaining information about that material. However, etching-based tests such as the one done in this study in which the samples were submerged in Kroll reactive, did not reveal any structural information [19]. In this study, however, it was possible to obtain information from the microscopic image when the samples were attacked.…”

The effect of zirconium on the Ti-(42-46 at.%)Al system

“…Prior to the characterization, the samples were prepared according to the procedure described in Ref. [24] . A further characterization of selected sample conditions was performed by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) as well as electron back-scatter diffraction (EBSD).…”

Optimization of the Post-Process Heat Treatment Strategy for a Near-α Titanium Base Alloy Produced by Laser Powder Bed Fusion

“…All heat treatments were conducted in temperature-calibrated Nabertherm N 11/HR box furnaces. The sample preparation of the metallographic specimens was performed using standard preparation techniques for titanium alloys according to reference [ 26 ]. X-ray diffraction (XRD) investigations with a D8 Advance diffractometer from Bruker, Billerica, USA in coupled 2-θ mode using a Cu-K α X-ray source with a wavelength of 0.154 nm were carried out to identify the occurring phases and the according volume fractions.…”

“…Rietveld analysis [ 27 ] with the software TOPAS from Bruker was performed to analyze the phase fractions and lattice parameters of the phases present. Light optical microscopy (LOM) with an AxioImager.M2 LOM from Zeiss, Jena, Germany was performed to determine the pore content of the as-built samples according to reference [ 26 ]. Fractography was conducted on a stereo-microscope, type DiscoveryV20 from Zeiss.…”