Nigerian Journal of Technological Development (Dec 2016)
Influence of Scanning Speed on the Microhardness Property of Additive Manufactured Titanium Alloy
Abstract
Ti6Al4V is an important aerospace alloy, and it is challenging processing this material through traditional manufacturing processes. Laser metal deposition, an additive manufacturing process offers lots of advantages for processing aerospace materials, the ability to increase buy-to-fly ratio by at least 80% amongst other things. An improved property is achievable through laser metal deposition. The Ti6Al4V powder of particle size 150-200 μm was deposited using a 4.0 kW Rofin Sinar Nd: YAG laser on 72x72x5 mm Ti6Al4V substrate. The powder was delivered using argon gas as a shield. The scanning speed was varied between 0.01 and 0.12 m/sec. The microstructures of the deposited layers were studied by optical microscope and the microhardness was also measured using the Vickers hardness tester. The properties of the deposited tracks were compared to that of the substrate. The microhardness was found to increase with increase in scanning speed.