Ultra-high specific strength Ti6Al4V alloy lattice material manufactured via selective laser melting

Additive manufacturing technology has the characteristics of rapid melting/solidification and precise forming of complex structural integrated parts, which is not available in traditional manufacturing methods. Herein we utilize selective laser melting (SLM) to manufacture Ti6Al4V lattice structures with different aspect ratios. The results show that the additively manufactured Ti6Al4V alloy lattice material has an ultra-high specific strength of similar to 326.6 MPa/(g/cm(3)), surpassing 1.7 times the specific strength of Ti6Al4V alloy bulk material. The mechanism of the specific strength enhancements discussed. On the one hand, the Ti6Al4V lattice material produced by SLM is mainly composed of alpha ' martensite with a high density of dislocations. The quantitative calculation by Bailey Hirsch formula shows that the ratio of high density dislocation contributed to the strength reaches 29.73% of the total strength. On the other hand, structural optimization is also a factor that makes the SLM-produced lattice material show high specific strength. When the aspect ratio is 5, the compressive strength of the optimized structure is 295.81% higher than that of the uniform structure, while the density is only 79.21% higher. The optimized structure and unique microstructure endow SLM-produced Ti6Al4V lattice material with outstanding compression properties.

Automated summary

This article utilizes selective laser melting (SLM) to manufacture Ti6Al4V lattice structures with different aspect ratios, and investigates their performance. The results show that the additively manufactured Ti6Al4V lattice material has an ultra-high specific strength, mainly due to high density dislocations and structural optimization.