Thermal history modelling to understand microstructures observed in repair technology of Ti-6Al-4V

Laser cladding is a metal deposition technique used to fabricate or repair components. In the present work Ti-6Al-4V deposits with a variable thickness are studied to assess the use of laser cladding as a repair technology [1]. Solidification following melting and partial remelting of pre-existing layers is coupled with heat treatment of the solidified material due to the repeated heating and cooling cycles during building. The effect of the building strategy on the metallurgical characteristics of the material for a decreasing track length (DTL) or a constant track length (CTL) strategy is analyzed. Depending on the possible heat accumulation, the nature of the phases are determined by metallography and hardness maps of the deposits. Optical Microscopy (OM), Stereo Microscopy (SM), and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) were used in order to study the microstructure. The generation of the microstructure results from the material thermal history. This one is computed by Finite Element Method and a careful analysis establishes the link between the phase state and the detailed thermal history.