Materials and Design 35 (2012) 120–125

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Materials and Design

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Effects of processing parameters on microstructure and mechanical property

of selective laser melted Ti6Al4V
Bo Song ⇑, Shujuan Dong, Baicheng Zhang, Hanlin Liao, Christian Coddet
LERMPS-Université de Technologie de Belfort – Montbéliard, Site de Sévenan, 90010 Belfort Cedex, France

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Selective laser melting, as a facile method, was successfully used in this paper to manufacture perfect
Received 10 August 2011 Ti6Al4V parts. Based on a series of single tracks, the processing windows were firstly proposed, corre-
Accepted 23 September 2011 sponding to different melting mechanisms. And selective laser melted Ti6Al4V parts using various
Available online 29 September 2011
parameters within the processing map were investigated in terms of microstructure, roughness, densifi-
cation and microhardness. It was found that the microstructure, roughness, densification and microhard-
Keywords: ness of Ti6Al4V parts were a strong function of processing parameters. An excellent Ti6Al4V part with the
C. Lasers
high microhardness and the smooth surface can be manufactured by selective laser melting using pref-
E. Mechanical
F. Microstructure
erable laser power 110 W and scanning speed 0.4 m/s, corresponding to continuous melting mechanism.
The density is so high that it can be comparable to that of bulk Ti6Al4V alloy.
Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction ited, the rest powder which was not scanned can be removed and
the produced part can be taken out of the machine [7,8]. These
Titanium alloys have been widely applied for load-bearing ortho- advantages promote its potential for material processing and rapid
pedic implants in the physiological environment due to their attrac- manufacturing applications. Recent research efforts have also dem-
tive properties, such as high corrosion resistance and excellently soft onstrated that SLM, due to its flexibility in feedstock and shapes,
and hard tissue biocompatibility [1–4]. Among titanium alloys, has a promising potential for the net-shape production of com-
Ti6Al4V is the most favorable since its first introduction in the early plex-shaped, high-performance composites parts. SLM processes
1950s. However, due to the intrinsic property of pre-alloyed of Al–Si–Mg/SiC, stainless steel/hydroxyapatite, 663 copper alloy,
Ti6Al4V, it is difficult to elaborate parts using Ti6Al4V feedstock. Fe–Ni–Cr and TiC/Ti5Si3 powder have been reported [9–13]. Thus,
The existing studies on manufacturing technology for Ti6Al4V SLM, as a facile method, was tentatively used to melt Ti6Al4V
focused on the traditional processing method, casting. This process powder.
not only needs to prepare a complex mold but also has the oxida- In this paper, the importance of the processing parameters in
tion problem of Ti6Al4V, phase transitions, decomposition and striving to obtain fully dense Ti6Al4V parts by selective laser melt-
grain growth, due to the high-temperature holding for a long time. ing has been demonstrated. The effects of processing parameters
Selective laser melting (SLM), as one of the rapid prototyping on the microstructure, roughness, densification and microhardness
techniques, was proposed in the present paper to manufacture were carried out.
Ti6Al4V parts. SLM represents an evolution of selective laser sin-
tering (SLS) process when the complete melting of powder occurs
rather than sintering or partial melting [5]. After noticeable
improvements in recent years, this processing technique appears
2. Experimental procedure
which can transform metallic and alloy powders directly into
dense parts, in contrast to selective laser sintering (SLS) where
2.1. Powder used
post-processing is needed to obtain fully dense parts [6]. During
the SLM process, once a powder layer has been scanned, the build-
The Ti6Al4V powder used as feedstock was prepared in the lab-
ing platform moves down one step (typically between 30 and
oratory by gas atomization and thus has a spherical shape. The dis-
100 lm), and the next powder layer is placed upon the previous
tribution size is homogeneous as shown in Fig. 1a. Spherical or
one by means of a powder feeder. After all layers have been depos-
near-spherical particles generally result in close packing, thereby
leading to a more efficient densification during SLM process.
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +33 3 84583564; fax: +33 3 84583286. Fig. 1b shows an essential lognormal distribution with a particle
E-mail address: [email protected] (B. Song). size of 10.62 lm (d10), 18.35 lm (d50) and 31.46 lm (d90).

0261-3069/$ - see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.matdes.2011.09.051
 B. Song et al. / Materials and Design 35 (2012) 120–125 121

Fig. 1. (a) SEM morphology and (b) size distribution of Ti6Al4V powder.

Fig. 2. (a) Layer cross-hatching technique and (b) photographs showing real-time selective laser melting process.

2.3. Characterization

The top-surface microstructure of melted Ti6Al4V parts was

characterized using a scanning electron microscope. The cross
-sectional microstructure of Ti6Al4V parts was examined by opti-
cal microscope (OM). The density was estimated using Archime-
dean method. The Vickers hardness of polished parts was
measured under 300 g load with load time 15 s. Each mean hard-
ness value is obtained from 20 measurements. The surface rough-
ness of Ti6Al4V parts was obtained with a Taylor–Hobson
Surtronic 3P profilometer.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Mechanisms of powder melting

Fig. 3. Schematic diagram of selective laser melting machine.

As well known, the densification level and the attendant micro-

structure of selective laser melted Ti6Al4V parts depend strongly on
2.2. Selective laser melting process

Stainless steel plates of 25 mm  10 mm  5 mm dimensions

were used as stacking platform. Before being installed, this plat-
form was grit-blasted with alumina. In order to identify a range
of suitable parameters for manufacturing Ti6Al4V alloy, a series
of single tracks with length 10 mm were firstly melted. And then
a set of 5 mm long, 5 mm wide and 5 mm thick specimens were
produced using various parameters as illustrated in Fig. 2.
The laser source of the SLM machine used is a YLR-100-SM sin-
gle mode CW Ytterbium fiber laser (1064–1100 nm). The diameter
of laser beam is adjustable between 34 lm and 75 lm and the
maximum power is 120 W. The maximum laser scanning speed
is v = 3 m/s. The working chamber provides a closed environment
which is filled with Argon as a protective gas to maintain the pres-
sure of oxygen below (0.8%), where the temperature of stacking
platform can be adjusted and fixed at 100 °C. SLM was performed
in the following ranges: laser beam 34 lm, laser power from 70
and 120 W, laser scanning speed 0.05–1.6 m/s, scan line spacing
Fig. 4. Mechanisms of single tracks for selective laser melted Ti6Al4V (zone
40 lm and powder layer thickness 50 lm. The SLM machine was I-melting with cracks, zone II-continuous melting, zone III-partial melting) versus
schematically shown in Fig. 3. laser power and scanning speed.
122 B. Song et al. / Materials and Design 35 (2012) 120–125

(a) (b)

Cracks

(c)
Sintering neck

Unmelted
particles

Fig. 5. SEM images showing typical top-surface morphologies of selective laser melted samples with selected parameters in different processing windows: (a) 120 W, 0.2 m/s
(point 1, within zone I), (b) 110 W, 0.4 m/s (point 2, within zone II), and (c) 110 W, 1.2 m/s (point 3, within zone III).

the operating temperature of the melting system, which is mainly speed. Thus, 27 single tracks were firstly melted in the present pa-
controlled by two main parameters, i.e., laser power and scanning per in order to clarify the melting mechanism of Ti6Al4V powder

Fig. 6. Surface roughness of selective laser melted Ti6Al4V parts corresponding to different processing windows: (a) 120 W, 0.2 m/s (point 1, within zone I), (b) 110 W, 0.4 m/
s (point 2, within zone II), and (c) 110 W, 1.2 m/s (point 3, within zone III).
 B. Song et al. / Materials and Design 35 (2012) 120–125 123

(a) (b)

Cracks

(c)

Honeycomb-like
structure

Fig. 7. OM micrographs of single tracks (top) and cross-sectional Ti6Al4V parts (bottom) produced by different processing parameters: (a) 120 W, 0.2 m/s, (b) 110 W, 0.4 m/s,
and (c) 110 W, 1.2 m/s.

Table 1 parameters within zone I (point 1) yielded a split surface containing

Density of selective laser melted Ti6Al4V parts with different melting mechanism. many cracks, despite producing a relatively dense surface. How-
Melting Melting with Continuous Partial ever, these cracks are harmful for the performance of selective laser
mechanism cracks melting melting melted Ti6Al4V. As to point 2 within zone II, a relatively smooth and
Process window Zone I Zone II Zone III
dense melted surface was obtained. And the metallurgical bonding
Density (g/cm3) 3.87 4.13 2.91 took place. This fact implies that all the single tracks have a better
metallurgical bonding with each other. In fact, this metallurgical
bonding is a complex process, including multiple heat and mass
and to later manufacture a perfect part. A processing map was then
transfer and in some instances chemical reactions as reported in
defined, based on the series of single tracks, which were indicated
other literatures [14–18]. In case of point 3 within zone III, it can
by different symbols in Fig. 4. Over the entire range of laser powers
be recognized that there exist many unmelted particles and balling
and scanning speeds, three processing windows could be summa-
phenomenon can be found. This balling phenomenon can be ex-
rized, corresponding to three different melting mechanisms:
plained by the melting instability during the selective laser melting
process. It is particularly pronounced in the case of insufficient en-
ergy input zone. On one hand, the lower laser energy results in a de-
(I) Melting with cracks. This is a high energy input zone. At a high
crease of the diameter of cylindrical tracks and even leads to a
laser power combined with a relatively low scanning speed, the
significant transverse shrinkage distortion, namely, thin and dis-
single Ti6Al4V track could be completely melted and even
broke up duo to the excessive shrinkage and the high residual
stresses, producing many visible cracks.

(II) Continuous melting. The energy input was so comfortable that

continuous single tracks were obtained by means of the com-
plete melting of Ti6Al4V powders.

(III)Partial melting. The insufficient energy input could not induce

significant melting of Ti6Al4V powders. This will inevitably
induce a laminated structure formed by Ti6Al4V powders.

Once this processing map was defined, the three processing

windows could be used to choose the suitable conditions under
which a perfect part can be successfully produced.
The characteristic top-surface morphologies of Ti6Al4V parts
produced by selective laser melting according to the described win-
dows are provided in Fig. 5. Selective laser melting using Fig. 8. Microhardness of selective laser melted Ti6Al4V parts.
124 B. Song et al. / Materials and Design 35 (2012) 120–125

continuous tracks as the results (top in Fig. 7c) in the following in Fig. 8. These processing parameters have an important influence
sections. On the other hand, a number of small-sized liquid drop- on microhardness, because the microhardness has a direct rela-
lets, in turn, tend to splash from the surface of those thin and dis- tionship with the densification level. This is undoubtedly con-
continuous tracks, due to the reduction in the surface energy of nected with the fact that the densification level corresponds to
liquid at short length scales. Hence, a large amount of microme- the resistance to plastic deformation or rupture. In the present pa-
ter-scaled spherical splashes are formed around the surface, finally per, the microhardness of the densest part corresponding to zone II
resulting in the balling phenomenon. This is consistent with other (110 W, 0.4 m/s) is 450 HV. This value is much higher than that of
cases referring to the balling phenomenon and the melting instabil- thermohydrogen-processed Ti6Al4V part before and after the THP
ity [19,20]. treatment (from 306 to 339 HV) [21] and higher than that of
Moreover, an insufficient amount of liquid phase was generated Ti6Al4V part processed by the electron beam welding (from
due to a considerably short dwelling time of laser spot at scanning 270 HV to 370 HV) [22]. Comparing these processing methods, it
speed 1.2 m/s. The extremely low energy input cannot make the can be considered that the selective laser melting technology has
temperature of the irradiated powders higher than that of the a great potential in fabricating high performance Ti6Al4V part with
melting point 1668 °C of Ti6Al4V alloy. Thus, only sintering necks, controlled microstructures and mechanical properties.
formed by means of diffusion, could be found instead of the consol-
idation of liquid phase. Of course, the produced loosen Ti6Al4V
4. Conclusions
cannot bear excellent mechanical properties.
Corresponding to these top-surface morphologies, the measure-
The processing map for selective laser melting of Ti6Al4V alloy
ment of roughness was carried out. Roughness values Ra were ob-
was list systematically, based on the melted single tracks. Then the
tained, as shown in Fig. 6. Among the three melted Ti6Al4V parts,
effect of processing parameters on microstructure and mechanical
the highest smoothness is 2.1 lm corresponds to point 2. This is an
property of Ti6Al4V parts was investigated in this study. Conclu-
almost perfect Ti6Al4V part. While for the other parts, Ra values
sions could be drawn as follows:
are relatively much higher because of the existence of pulse cra-
ters, convexes and holes arising from cracks and unmelted layers.
(1) Based on a series of single tracks, three melting mechanism
3.2. Microstructure and densification
were proposed to later manufacture a real part.

Although selective laser melting using the various parameters

(2) A perfect Ti6Al4V part has been successfully manufactured by
within the processing map mentioned above yields a regular top-
selective laser melting using parameters (v = 0.4 m/s,
surface morphology evolution, it is necessary to further observe
P = 110 W) within zone II, corresponding to continuous melting
the microstructure feature on the internal sections of Ti6Al4V sam-
mechanism.
ples produced by selective laser melting in order to obtain a rea-
sonable and accurate processing parameter.
(3) For the selective laser melted Ti6Al4V part corresponding to
Fig. 7 shows typical single Ti6Al4V tracks and cross-sectional
continuous melting mechanism, both the smoothness 2.1 lm
micrographs of selective laser melted Ti6Al4V parts corresponding
and the microhardness 450 HV are highest. Moreover, the den-
to different processing windows. For point 1 within zone I, a defec-
sity 4.13 g/cm3 is so high that it can be comparable to the den-
tive microstructure consisting of completely melted zone and
sity (4.30 g/cm3) of bulk Ti6Al4V alloy.
cracks was visible. This is consistent with the morphology of single
track which broke up at intervals (top in Fig. 7a). At a laser power of
110 W and scanning speed of 0.4 m/s, selective laser melting yields
a more homogeneous and almost fully dense microstructure. While References
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