A study of the microstructural evolution during selective laser melting of Ti–6Al–4V

Selective laser melting (SLM) is an additive manufacturing technique in which functional, complex parts can be created directly by selectively melting layers of powder. This process is characterized by highly localized high heat inputs during very short interaction times and will therefore significantly affect the microstructure. In this research, the development of the microstructure of the Ti–6Al–4V alloy processed by SLM and the influence of the scanning parameters and scanning strategy on this microstructure are studied by light optical microscopy. The martensitic phase is present, and due to the occurrence of epitaxial growth, elongated grains emerge. The direction of these grains is directly related to the process parameters. At high heat inputs it was also found that the intermetallic phase Ti3Al is precipitated during the process.