On the effect of microstructural anisotropy on the mechanical and thermophysical properties of Ti6Al4V processed by Laser Beam Melting

Laser beam melting (LBM) is a strongly directional process in which a metallic powder is deposited layer by layer in a powder bed and molten locally according to the desired shape. When processing Ti6Al4V, it is well known that the latest layer tends to solidify epitaxially on the previous layers, thus giving rise to elongated columnar primary β(BCC) crystals extending over several successive layers. These primary β grains then transforms into the α(HCP) structure upon cooling. The present work aimed at studying the microstructural anisotropy of LBM Ti6Al4V, as well as its consequences on the mechanical and thermophysical properties (i.e. thermal expansion and thermal conductivity). In order to gain a deeper undestanding of thermal phenomena in the LBM of Ti6Al4V, great care was also taken to characterize the thermophysical properties over a wide temperature range from room temperature.