Laser beam welding of titanium additive manufactured parts

In this paper the joinability of titanium Additive Manufactured (AM) parts is explored. Keyhole welding, using a pulsed laser beam, of conventionally produced parts is compared to AM parts. Metal AM parts are notorious for having remaining porosities and other non-isotropic properties due to the layered manufacturing process. This study shows that due to these deficiencies more energy per unit weld length is required to obtain a similar keyhole geometry for titanium AM parts. It is also demonstrated that, with adjusted laser process parameters, good quality welds for aerospace applications in terms of pressure resistance and leak tightness are achievable. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.