The influence of laser parameters, scanning strategies and material on the fatigue strength of a stochastic porous structure

Additive manufactured (AM) porous materials behave quantitatively and qualitatively differently in fatigue than bulk materials, and the relationships normally used for the fatigue design of continuous bulk materials are not applicable to AM porous materials particularly for low stiffness applications. This study investigated how the manufacturing methods and the material used during powder bed fusion affects the compressive strength and high cycle fatigue strength of a stochastic porous material for a given stiffness. Specimens were manufactured using varying laser parameters, 3 scan strategies (Contour, Points, Pulsing) and 4 materials. The materials investigated were two titanium alloys: commercially pure grade 2 (CP-Ti) and Ti6Al4V ELI, commercially pure tantalum (Ta) and a titanium-tantalum alloy (Ti-30Ta). The trends observed during fatigue testing for monolithic metals and statically for solid and porous AM materials were not always indicative of the high cycle fatigue behaviour of porous AM materials. Unlike their solid counterparts, porous tantalum and the titanium-tantalum alloy had the greatest fatigue strength for a given stiffness, 8% greater than CP-Ti and 19% greater than Ti6Al4V ELI. Optimisation of the laser parameters and scan strategies was found to also increase the fatigue strength for a given stiffness of porous AM materials by 7-8%.