To manufacture almost fully dense components, electron beam powder bed fusion of Ti-6Al-4V is typically combined with post-heat treatment, such as hot isostatic pressing (HIP). The standard HIP treatment performed at 920°C and 100 MPa for 2 h results in coarsening of the microstructure and impacting the yield strength. A low-temperature HIP treatment performed at 800°C and 200 MPa for 2 h resulted in limited coarsening and comparable yield strength to as-built material. A coarser microstructure is detrimental to tensile properties. Tensile testing at different temperatures revealed that thermal activation of different slip systems could possibly affect the elongation behavior, demanding additional investigation. Performing in situ neutron time of flight diffraction during tensile testing provides data to analyze strain evolution and load partitioning in the crystal lattice, which includes the slip planes. A two-phase elastic–plastic self-consistent model has been used to analyze and compare the experimental results. The lattice strain evolution results indicated that the basal slip 0 0 0 2 was activated at 20°C while the pyramidal slip 1 0 1¯ 1 was first activated during loading at 350°C. Load partitioning results showed that the β phase endures higher stresses than the α phase in the plastic regime. 

Surface asperities play a leading role in determining the fatigue life of as-built Ti-6Al-4 V components manufactured by electron beam powder bed fusion (PBF-EB). Several roughness parameters are available to characterize the surface asperities This study focuses on identifying the surface roughness parameter that correlates best with fatigue life. To this end, several fatigue test specimens were manufactured using the PBF-EB process and utilizing different contour melting strategies, thus producing as-built surfaces with varying roughness. The focus variation microscopy technique was employed to obtain surface roughness parameters for the as-built surfaces. Selected specimens were characterized using x-ray computed tomography (XCT). Tomography can detect surface-connected features obscured by other parts of the surface that are not visible through optical microscopy. The fatigue life of all specimens was determined using four-point bend testing. Through regression model analysis, maximum pit height (Sv) was identified as the statistically significant roughness parameter with the best fit affecting fatigue life. The fracture zone was closely inspected based on the data collected through XCT prior to fatigue tests. This led to another estimate of the worst-case value for the statistically significant roughness parameter Sv. The Sv parameter values obtained from optical microscopy and XCT were used as the initial crack size in a crack growth model to predict fatigue life. It is observed that life estimates based solely on optical measurements of Sv can be overly optimistic, a situation that must be avoided in predictive design calculations.

Ti-6Al-4V is an α+β titanium alloy that is widely used in aerospace engine applications due to its high specific strength. Typically, Ti-6Al-4V components are manufactured by conventional manufacturing processes such as castings or forgings. An alternative to conventional manufacturing processes is additive manufacturing (AM), which can be used to manufacture Ti-6Al-4V components, with increased geometrical complexity and potentially lower buy-to-fly ratio. AM material have been shown to have similar static mechanical properties as conventionally manufactured material, but the fatigue properties can be affected by the as-built surface quality and the defects in the AM material. Among several AM processes, the fatigue properties of electron beam powder bed fusion (PBF-EB) manufactured material have been primarily impacted by the as-built surface asperities. Therefore, for fatigue-critical applications, the as-built surfaces are typically removed by post-build treatment, making it challenging to manufacture net-shape geometries directly. Exploring ways to improve the surface quality of PBF-EB manufactured Ti-6Al-4V will reduce the post-finishing needs and increase sustainability. In the current thesis the effect of different contour settings on the as-built surface roughness and fatigue properties have been investigated.

The results indicate that increasing the number of contours and melting the contours prior to the hatch positively affect the surface roughness. Among several roughness parameters, the parameter related to surface valley depths has a statistically significant influence on the fatigue life. Moreover, advanced characterization techniques such as x-ray computed tomography are needed to capture the hidden valleys open to the surface. Fatigue life prediction using these hidden valley depths resulted in life estimations comparable to experimental results.

After eliminating the as-built surface asperities, defects in the bulk become critical for fatigue, typically addressed by post-build heat treatment such as hot isostatic pressing (HIP). HIP treatment of conventionally cast Ti-6Al-4V is typically performed at 920 ˚C, 100 MPa for 2 hours. This same HIP treatment has also viii been adapted for PBF-EB manufactured Ti-6Al-4V, which results in coarsening of α laths and reduction of yield strength compared to as-built material. Lowering the HIP treatment temperature to 800 ˚C and increasing the pressure to 200 MPa has recently been proven to close the porosity to a high degree while sustaining the as-built yield strength. However, the fatigue performance of the low-temperature HIP treatment needs to be evaluated which is performed in the current thesis. Even though the low-temperature HIP material had the lowest minimum life cycles to failure, the overall fatigue performance is comparable with that of the standard HIP material. Further, in aerospace engine applications, Ti-6Al-4V normally has a maximum operating temperature of 350 ˚C, therefore the elevated temperature tensile performance has also been investigated in this work. At 350 ˚C, the yield strength decreases to about 65% compared to the room temperature strength for all tested materials. An increase in ductility was observed at 150 ˚C compared to that at room temperature, but the ductility decreased between 150 – 350 ˚C because of the activation of different slip systems.

Ti-6Al-4V är en α+β titanlegering som används flitigt i flygmotortillämpningar på grund av sin höga specifika hållfasthet. Typiskt tillverkas Ti-6Al-4V-komponenter genom konventionella tillverkningsprocesser såsom gjutning eller smidning. Ett alternativ till konventionella tillverkningsprocesser är additiv tillverkning (AM, från engelskans Additiv Manufacturing), som kan användas för att tillverka Ti-6Al-4V komponenter med ökad geometrisk komplexitet och potentiellt lägre ”buy-to-fly ratio”. AM-material har visat sig ha liknande statiska mekaniska egenskaper som konventionellt tillverkade material, men utmattningsegenskaperna kan påverkas av ytkvalitét och defekter.

I likhet med flera andra AM-processer påverkas utmattningsegenskaperna hos material tillverkat med elektronstrålepulverbäddsteknik (PBF-EB) i första hand av skillnader i ytfinheten. För utmattningskritiska applikationer, bearbetas därför de byggda råytorna vanligtvis genom olika ytförbättringsmetoder, vilket gör det utmanande att tillverka komplexa geometrier utan efterbearbetning. Att utforska sätt att förbättra ytkvalitéten hos PBF-EB-tillverkad Ti-6Al-4V kommer att minska behovet av efterbearbetning och öka hållfastheten.

I denna avhandling har effekten av olika PBF-EB konturparameterinställningar på ytans ytfinhet och utmattningsegenskaper undersökts. Resultaten indikerar att en ökning av antalet konturer och smältning av konturerna före smältning av bulken, påverkar ytjämnheten positivt. Bland flera ytfinhetsparametrar har parametern relaterad till dalarnas djup en signifikant inverkan på utmattningslivslängden. För att fånga de dolda dalarna som är öppna mot ytan behövs mera avancerade ytkarakteriseringsmetoder så som röntgen tomografi. Prediktering av utmattningslivslängden då dessa dolda dalar tas hänsyn till resulterade i livlängdssuppskattningar som var jämförbara med experimentella resultat.

Då ojämnheter på ytan är eliminerade blir defekter i bulken kritiska för utmattningshållfastheten. Vanligtvis åtgärdas detta genom värmebehandling efter tillverkning, såsom het isostatisk pressning (HIP). HIP-behandling av konventionellt gjuten Ti-6Al-4V utförs vanligtvis vid 920 ˚C, 100 MPa under 2 timmar. Samma HIP-behandling har även använts för PBF-EB tillverkad Ti-6Al-4V, vilket resulterar i förgrovning av α-lamellerna och minskning av sträckgränsen vi jämfört med som byggt materiell. Att sänka HIP-behandlingstemperaturen till 800 ˚C och öka trycket till 200 MPa har nyligen visat sig stänga porositeten i hög grad samtidigt som materialet bibehåller sträckgränsen. Utmattningsprestandan för material med lågtemperatur-HIP-behandlingen har utvärderats i detta arbete. Även om det lågtemperatur-HIP-behandlade materialet hade de lägsta minimumlivslängderna till brott, är utmattningsprestandan jämförbar med den för standard HIP-behandlat material.

I flygmotorapplikationer har Ti-6Al-4V normalt en maximal driftstemperatur på 350 ˚C, därför har draghållfastheten vid denna temperatur undersökts i detta arbete. Vid 350 ˚C minskar sträckgränsen till cirka 65 % jämfört med hållfastheten vid rumstemperatur. En ökning av duktiliteten observerades vid 150 ˚C jämfört med den vid rumstemperatur, men duktiliteten minskade vid temperaturer mellan 150 – 350 ˚C på grund av aktiveringen av olika glidsystem.

Ti-6Al-4 V finds application in the fan and compressor modules of gas turbine engines due to its high specific strength. Ti-6Al-4 V components manufactured using one of the additive manufacturing (AM) techniques, the electron beam powder bed fusion (PBF-EB) process, has been an active area of research in the past decade. The fatigue life of such PBF-EB built Ti-6Al-4 V components is improved by hot isostatic pressing (HIP) treatment typically performed at about 920 ˚C. The HIP treatment at 920 ˚C results in coarsening of α laths and reduced static strength and therefore a low-temperature HIP treatment is performed at about 800 ˚C to limit the impact on static mechanical properties. In the present work, the low cycle fatigue and fatigue crack growth behavior of such a modified HIP (low-temperature HIP) treated material is assessed and compared with the respective data for the standard HIP-treated material. The modified HIP-treated material has fatigue performance comparable to the standard HIP-treated material. This work suggests that the modified HIP treatment improves the static mechanical properties without significantly impacting the fatigue performance. Also, fatigue life predictions were made from the measured defect size at the crack initiation site using a linear elastic fracture mechanics tool. The life predictions show good agreement with the experimental values for defects greater than the intrinsic crack length, where life is well predicted by large-crack growth methodology. 

Electron beam-powder bed fusion (EB-PBF) is a process that uses a highly intense electron beam to melt metallic powders to create parts. In comparison to a conventional process, EB-PBF is more efficient at producing customized and specific parts in industries such as aerospace, space, and medical. Additionally, the EB-PBF process is used to manufacture highly complex parts for which other technologies would be prohibitively expensive or difficult to apply; increased geometric complexity does not necessarily imply increased cost. However, because the interaction of the electron beam with the powder and substrate material is complex, a high level of knowledge is required to master the skill of producing structurally sound components. This chapter discusses crucial features of the process parametermicrostructure-defect relationship that must be taken into Electron beam-powder bed fusion (EB-PBF) is a process that uses a highly intense electron beam to melt metallic powders to create parts. In comparison to a conventional process, EB-PBF is more efficient at producing customized and specific parts in industries such as aerospace, space, and medical. Additionally, the EB-PBF process is used to manufacture highly complex parts for which other technologies would be prohibitively expensive or difficult to apply; increased geometric complexity does not necessarily imply increased cost. However, because the interaction of the electron beam with the powder and substrate material is complex, a high level of knowledge is required to master the skill of producing structurally sound components. This chapter discusses crucial features of the process parametermicrostructure-defect relationship that must be taken into account in order to generate sufficiently sound builds of highperformance materials employing EB-PBF.

Evaluation of the high-temperature tensile properties of Ti-6Al-4V manufactured by electron beam melting (EBM) and subjected to a low-temperature hot isostatic pressing (HIP) treatment (800 °C) was performed in this study. The high-temperature tensile properties of as-built and standard HIP-treated (920 °C) materials were studied for comparison. Metallurgical characterization of the as-built, HIP-treated materials was carried out to understand the effect of temperature on the microstructure. As the HIP treatments were performed below the β-transus temperature (995 °C for Ti-6Al-4V), no significant difference was observed in β grain width between the as-built and HIP-treated samples. The standard HIP-treated material measured about 1.4×-1.7× wider α laths than those in the modified HIP (low-temperature HIP)-treated and as-built samples. The standard HIP-treated material showed about a 10-14% lower yield strength than other tested materials. At 350 °C, the yield strength decreased to about 65% compared to the room-temperature strength for all tested specimens. An increase in ductility was observed at 150 °C compared to that at room temperature, but the values decreased between 150 and 350 °C because of the activation of different slip systems.

Ti-6Al-4V manufactured by electron beam melting Keywords: Additive manufacturing, high-temperature tensile properties, low cycle fatigue, neutron diffraction, fatigue crack growth ISBN: 978-91-89325-27-2 (Printed) 978-91-89325-26-5 (Electronic) Ti-6Al-4V is the most widely used α+β titanium alloy in aerospace engine applications due to its high specific strength. Typically, the alloy is manufactured as castings or forgings and then machined to final geometry. These conventional manufacturing processes do however generate a lot of waste material, whereas additive manufacturing (AM) can potentially produce a near-net-shape geometry directly from the feedstock. In the past decade, electron beam melting (EBM), one of the powder bed fusion techniques, has been widely researched to build Ti[1]6Al-4V components. Still, the as-built material can contain defects such as gas pores that require post-processing, such as hot isostatic pressing (HIP) to produce nearly fully dense components. HIP treatment of conventionally cast Ti-6Al-4V is normally performed at 920 ˚C, 100 MPa for 2 hours. This same HIP treatment has then been adapted also for EBM-manufactured Ti-6Al-4V, which however results in coarsening of α laths and reduction of yield strength. Therefore, finding a more appropriate HIP treatment for this new type of Ti-6Al-4V material, i.e. EBM manufactured, would be of great benefit for the industry. Lowering the HIP treatment temperature to 800 ˚C and increasing the pressure to 200 MPa has recently been proven to close the porosity to a high degree while sustaining the high yield strength. In this thesis, the high-temperature tensile properties of EBM-manufactured Ti[1]6Al-4V subjected to a low-temperature (800 ˚C) HIP treatment were evaluated and compared with standard HIP-treated (920 ˚C) materials. Metallurgical characterization of the as-built, HIP-treated materials have been carried out to understand the effect of temperature on the microstructures. The standard HIP[1]treated material measured about 1.4x - 1.7x wider α laths than those in the low[1]temperature HIP treated and as-built samples, respectively. The standard HIP[1]treated material showed about 10 - 14% lower yield strength than other HIP treated materials. At 350 ˚C the yield strength decreases to about 65% compared to the room temperature strength for all tested materials. An increase in ductility vi programvaran NASGRO där livsförutsägelserna visade god överensstämmelse med experimentella livscykler i de flesta fall. vii Abstract Title: Microstructure and mechanical properties of low-temperature hot isostatic pressed Ti-6Al-4V manufactured by electron beam melting Keywords: Additive manufacturing, high-temperature tensile properties, low cycle fatigue, neutron diffraction, fatigue crack growth ISBN: 978-91-89325-27-2 (Printed) 978-91-89325-26-5 (Electronic) Ti-6Al-4V is the most widely used α+β titanium alloy in aerospace engine applications due to its high specific strength. Typically, the alloy is manufactured as castings or forgings and then machined to final geometry. These conventional manufacturing processes do however generate a lot of waste material, whereas additive manufacturing (AM) can potentially produce a near-net-shape geometry directly from the feedstock. In the past decade, electron beam melting (EBM), one of the powder bed fusion techniques, has been widely researched to build Ti[1]6Al-4V components. Still, the as-built material can contain defects such as gas pores that require post-processing, such as hot isostatic pressing (HIP) to produce nearly fully dense components. HIP treatment of conventionally cast Ti-6Al-4V is normally performed at 920 ˚C, 100 MPa for 2 hours. This same HIP treatment has then been adapted also for EBM-manufactured Ti-6Al-4V, which however results in coarsening of α laths and reduction of yield strength. Therefore, finding a more appropriate HIP treatment for this new type of Ti-6Al-4V material, i.e. EBM manufactured, would be of great benefit for the industry. Lowering the HIP treatment temperature to 800 ˚C and increasing the pressure to 200 MPa has recently been proven to close the porosity to a high degree while sustaining the high yield strength. In this thesis, the high-temperature tensile properties of EBM-manufactured Ti[1]6Al-4V subjected to a low-temperature (800 ˚C) HIP treatment were evaluated and compared with standard HIP-treated (920 ˚C) materials. Metallurgical characterization of the as-built, HIP-treated materials have been carried out to understand the effect of temperature on the microstructures. The standard HIP[1]treated material measured about 1.4x - 1.7x wider α laths than those in the low[1]temperature HIP treated and as-built samples, respectively. The standard HIP[1]treated material showed about 10 - 14% lower yield strength than other HIP treated materials. At 350 ˚C the yield strength decreases to about 65% compared to the room temperature strength for all tested materials. An increase in ductility viii was observed at 150 ˚C compared to that at room temperature, but the ductility decreased between 150 - 350 ˚C because of activation of different slip systems. The low cycle fatigue (LCF) behavior of such a modified HIP (low-temperature HIP) material is assessed at two different strain levels and compared with the corresponding LCF properties for the standard HIP material. Even though the modified HIP material had lowest minimum life cycles to failure, the overall fatigue performance is comparable with that of the standard HIP material. Also, fatigue life predictions were made from the measured defect size at the crack initiation site using NASGRO. The calculated life predictions showed good agreement with the experimental values in most cases. In-situ neutron diffraction measurements on tensile test specimens were conducted, at both room temperature and at 350˚ C, for the standard and modified HIP-treated materials. The objective was to gain essential insights on how the crystal lattice strains relate to the macroscopic strengths in these specific microstructures. This investigation helped to understand the load partitioning between different slip planes and constituent phases in the microstructure at different temperatures.

Ti-6Al-4V är den mest använda α+β titanlegeringen i flygmotortillämpningar på grund av sin höga specifika hållfasthet. Vanligtvis tillverkas legeringen som gjutgods eller smide och bearbetas sedan till slutlig geometri. Dessa konventionella tillverkningsprocesser genererar dock en hel del avfallsmaterial, medan additiv tillverkning (AM) potentiellt kan producera en nästan slutgiltlig geometri direkt från råvaran. Under det senaste decenniet har elektronstrålesmältning (EBM), en av pulverbäddsfusionsteknikerna, undersökts mycket för att bygga Ti-6Al-4V-komponenter. Ändå kan det byggda materialet innehålla defekter såsom gasporer som kräver efterbearbetning, såsom varm isostatisk pressning (HIP) för att producera nästan helt täta komponenter. HIP[1]behandling av konventionellt gjutet Ti-6Al-4V utförs normalt vid 920 ˚C, 100 MPa under 2 timmar. Samma HIP-behandling har sedan anpassats även för EBM[1]tillverkat Ti-6Al-4V, vilket dock resulterar i förgrovning av α-lameller och minskning av sträckgränsen. Att hitta en mer lämplig HIP-behandling för denna nya typ av Ti-6Al-4V-material, dvs EBM-tillverkat, skulle därför vara till stor fördel för industrin. Att sänka HIP-behandlingstemperaturen till 800 ˚C och öka trycket till 200 MPa har nyligen visat sig stänga porositeten i hög grad samtidigt som den höga sträckgränsen bibehålls. Ti-6Al-4V används huvudsakligen i applikationer för flygmotorer upp till en maximal driftstemperatur på 300 ˚C. Därför studerades högtemperaturdragegenskaperna hos de olika HIP-behandlade EBM[1]byggmaterialen i detta forskningsarbete. Denna studie visade att duktiliteten påverkas av aktiveringen av olika glidsystem baserat på temperatur. Ytterligare neutrondiffraktionsexperiment utfördes tillsammans med in-situ dragprovning för att bestämma det aktiva glidsystemet vid en specifik temperatur. Utmattningsbeteendet hos det lågtemperaturbehandlade HIP-materialet utvärderas också genom lågcykelutmattningstestning och utmattningsspricktillväxttest. Utmattningsprestandan för det modifierade HIP[1]materialet utvärderades mot standard HIP- material och visade sig ha jämförbara utmattningsegenskaper. Förutsägelser om utmattningsliv utfördes med hjälp av vi programvaran NASGRO där livsförutsägelserna visade god överensstämmelse med experimentella livscykler i de flesta fall. 

This study investigates the influence of resistive pre-heating of the feedstock wire (here called hot-wire) on the stability of laser-directed energy deposition of Duplex stainless steel. Data acquired online during depositions as well as metallographic investigations revealed the process characteristic and its stability window. The online data, such as electrical signals in the pre-heating circuit and images captured from side-view of the process interaction zone gave insight on the metal transfer between the molten wire and the melt pool. The results show that the characteristics of the process, like laser-wire and wire-melt pool interaction, vary depending on the level of the wire pre-heating. In addition, application of two independent energy sources, laser beam and electrical power, allows fine-tuning of the heat input and increases penetration depth, with little influence on the height and width of the beads. This allows for better process stability as well as elimination of lack of fusion defects. Electrical signals measured in the hot-wire circuit indicate the process stability such that the resistive pre-heating can be used for in-process monitoring. The conclusion is that the resistive pre-heating gives additional means for controlling the stability and the heat input of the laser-directed energy deposition.

This research work is the first step in evaluating the feasibility of producing industrial components by using Laser Metal Deposition with duplex stainless steel Wire (LMDw). The influence of Ar and N2 shielding gases was investigated in terms of nitrogen loss and in the microstructure and austenite content of different deposited geometries. The evolution of the microstructure in the build-up direction of the Ar and N2-shielded blocks was compared in the heat-treated and as-deposited conditions. The susceptibility for oxygen pick-up in the LMDw deposits was also analyzed, and oxygen was found to be in the range of conventional gas-shielded weldments. Nitrogen loss occurred when Ar-shielding was used; however, the use of N2-shielding prevented nitrogen loss. Austenite content was nearly doubled by using N2-shielding instead of Ar-shielding. The heat treatment resulted in an increase of the austenite content and of the homogeneity in the microstructure regardless of the shielding gas used. The similarity in microstructure and the low spread in the phase balance for the as-deposited geometries is a sign of having achieved a stable and consistent LMDw process in order to proceed with the build-up of more complex geometries closer to industrial full-size components.