A detailed analysis on the microstructure and compressive properties of selective laser melted Ti6Al4V lattice structures

In this paper, Ti6Al4V octahedron lattice structures with top cap and bottom base were fabricated through selective laser melting (SLM). The structural integrity, microstructural evolution, compressive properties and failure mechanism of as-fabricated (AF) and vacuum annealing treated (VAT) samples were studied through both experiments and numerical modeling. The X-ray computed tomography analysis revealed that vacuum annealing had an insignificant effect on internal pore elimination and porosity reduction. For both the AF and VAT samples, larger pores exhibited more irregular shape than smaller pores. The microstructural analysis suggested that vacuum annealing was able to transform acicular α/α` martensites into uniformly distributed lamellar α + β phases and also to cause the formation of nano-particle precipitation and dislocation. The compressive test indicted that the lattice structure with confined top and bottom had much better compressive properties than those without. Also, vacuum annealing significantly improved the compressive strength by 26% due to the synergistic effect of residual stress relief, nano-particle precipitation and dislocation strengthening. The ductility of the VAT sample was also improved as compared to the AF sample, which was mainly attributed to the formation of α + β phases.