Processing of Ti Alloys by Additive Manufacturing: A Comparison of the Microstructures Obtained by Laser Cladding, Selective Laser Melting and Electron Beam Melting

Abstract

In this study, samples of alloy Ti-6Al-4V have been processed by different additive manufacturing techniques in order to compare the resulting microstructure. In all three processes, ultrafast cooling gives rise to strongly out-of-equilibrium microstructures. However, the specific of the heat flow in each process lead to significant differences as far as the grains orientation and the resulting microstructural anisotropy are concerned.