Influence of focus offset on the microstructure of an intermetallic γ-TiAl based alloy produced by electron beam powder bed fusion

Christian Ghibaudo, Reinhold Wartbichler, G. Marchese, Helmut Clemens, Daniele Ugues, Sara Biamino

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftArtikelForschungBegutachtung

Abstract

It is well established in literature that, when processing intermetallic γ-TiAl components by electron beam powder bed fusion, a banded microstructure is frequently formed because of an inhomogeneous Al distribution since more pronounced evaporation of Al occurs at the top of the melt pool. This feature is particularly promoted when highly energetic process parameters (high beam currents, slow beam speeds, narrow line offsets) are used. Therefore, an approach already suggested in the literature to reduce the Al loss is to minimize the energy level of the process parameter during production. However, there is a limit to such kind of approach: minimizing the beam current or increasing the beam speed, or increasing the line offset will, at a certain point, results in not being able to achieve a completely dense material and thus some process-induced porosity, the so-called lack-of-fusion defects, starts to occur in the produced parts. In this study, the effect of an additional parameter of the electron beam powder bed fusion process is taken under consideration: the focus offset (FO), i.e. the distance between the focusing plane of the electron beam with respect to the powder bed. The effect of the FO on the residual porosity, microstructure, phase composition, hardness as well as chemical composition is investigated, thus having the possibility to demonstrate that also the FO can affect the Al loss and play a fundamental role in the generation of a homogenous microstructure, contributing to mitigate the appearance of a banded microstructure.

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Seiten (von - bis)132-141
Seitenumfang10
Fachzeitschrift Journal of manufacturing processes
Jahrgang89.2023
Ausgabenummer3 March
Frühes Online-Datum2 Feb. 2023
DOIs
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - 3 März 2023

Bibliographische Notiz

Funding Information:
This project has received funding from the Clean Sky 2 Joint Undertaking under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 821274 . The authors want to acknowledge also the Integrated Additive Manufacturing Centre at Politecnico di Torino (IAM @PoliTo), where the specimens were produced.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023

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