FURTHER UNDESTANDING OF Ti-6Al-4V SELECTIVE LASER MELTING USING TEXTURE ANALYSIS

Selective laser melting (SLM) has shown to be an attractive manufacturing route to produce Ti-6Al-4V components. In the present study, the relation between the texture evolution and a particular set of process parameters adopted for the production of near fully dense components was investigated. The aim of this investigation was to understand which microstructural features can be tailored during the SLM production. The microstructural characterisation of the as-built components was carried out using various microscopy techniques including optical, scanning electron and transmission electron microscopy. Phases and texture analysis were carried out using backscattered electron imaging and electron backscattered diffraction. It was found that the components consist of ’ martensitic phase precipitated from prior  columnar grains. It was found that the ’ martensitic laths develop from the parent  grains following the Burgers orientation relationship. The texture of the prior  phase was calculated and compared to the measured ’ texture. It was found that at each layer processing the ’ texture is retained and variant selection takes place. The observed microstructural details will be discussed in relation to the SLM parameters.