Influence of build direction on the fatigue behaviour of Ti6Al4V alloy produced by direct metal laser sintering

Direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) is a layer by layer additive manufacturing technique based on high power fiber laser that creates solid layers from loose powder material and joins them in an additive manner. This manufacturing process is characterized by highly localized heat inputs during very short interaction times which significantly affect the microstructure. In this work, the development of the microstructure of the Ti6Al4V alloy was studied. It was found that microstructural characteristics are related to the building process parameters. The aim of this work is to evaluate the fatigue performance of DMLS Ti6Al4V alloy as a function of build orientation. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.