Experimental study of effect of post processing on fracture toughness and fatigue crack growth performance of selective laser melting Ti-6Al-4V

For Ti-6Al-4V, a titanium alloy increasingly used in aerospace structure, selective laser melting (SLM) is an attractive additive manufacturing technology, which is attributed to its complex construction capability with high accuracy and good surface quality. In order to obtain qualified mechanical properties, SLM parameters and post processing should be tailored for diverse service conditions. Fracture toughness and fatigue crack growth (FCG) behavior are critical characteristics for damage tolerance evaluation of such metallic structures, and they are affected by post processing technologies significantly. The objective of this study is to obtain the fracture toughness and fatigue crack growth behavior of Ti-6Al-4V manufactured by SLM, and to evaluate the influence of post-SLM thermomechanical treatment and surface machining. Fracture toughness and FCG tests were performed for SLM Ti-6Al-4V in three types of post processing status: as-built, heat treated and hot isostatically pressed (HIPed), respectively. Specimens with as-built and machined surface were tested. The microstructure and fractography were analyzed as well in order to investigate the relevance among manufacture process, microstructure and mechanical properties. The results demonstrate that as-built SLM Ti-6Al-4V presents poor ductility and FCG behavior due to martensitic microstructure and residual stresses. Both heat treatment and hot isostatic pressing improve the plane-stress fracture toughness and FCG performance considerably, while surface machining shows slight effect.