Material Characterization of Additively Manufactured Ti-alloy

Additive manufacturing (AM) seems to be most perspective candidate for machining of advanced functional lightweight metallic part offering potential benefits in terms of weight, design, and functionality. It is allowing alternative geometric shapes to be produced thereby decreasing the weight of the component without sacrificing component strength and safety. However, AM has not yet been approved for structural components with high safety requirements to date. There are still technology imperfections one has to face with, e.g. material property control, correlation between process and structural properties, effect of defects, etc. The paper is focused on the parameters which can significantly influence mechanical properties of AM parts - defects, surface roughness and microstructure. The work was conducted in the framework of the 3TANIUM Clean Sky project. The main objective of the project is the establishment of quality assessment methods that are capable to provide the detection of process related critical flaws and defects and to understand their effects on material and mechanical properties of Ti-alloy AM parts.