Analyzing the effects of powder and post-processing on porosity and properties of electron beam melted Ti-6Al-4V
Ross Cunningham, Andrea Nicolas, John Madsen, Eric Fodran, Elias Anagnostou, Michael D. Sangid & Anthony D. Rollett
Metal additive manufacturing techniques such as the powder-bed systems are developing as a novel method for producing complex components.
This study uses synchrotron-based X-ray microtomography to investigate porosity in electron beam melted Ti-6Al-4V in the as-built and post-processed state for two different powders. The presence of gas porosity in the starting powder was shown to correlate to porosity in the as-built components. This porosity was observed to shrink after a hot isostatic press treatment, but grow following a subsequent heat treatment. Crystal plasticity simulations were used to observe the effects of various observed pore sizes on mechanical behavior under loading.