Mechanical properties characterisation of metallic components produced by additive manufacturing using miniaturised specimens

The various process-specific differences in techniques compared to traditional techniques can produce significantly different mechanical behaviour in additively manufactured (AM) parts compared to traditional bulk counterparts. Components produced by AM are built layer by layer via localised melting. Therefore, both location- and orientation-dependent properties can be expected. Since many AM parts take advantage of the design and topology freedom provided by AM, properties characterisation with the use of standard specimens is not always possible, requiring the use of small-sized specimen techniques. In the current paper, three AM-produced IN-718, Ti-6Al-4V and H13 parts using electron beam powder bed fusion and laser powder bed fusion are evaluated. Local mechanical properties have been assessed with the use of mini-tensile tests that were developed for cases where limited amounts of material are available. The results obtained demonstrate the ability to measure location- and orientation-dependent properties in AM components using such approaches and highlight that additional work by the AM community remains in order to determine the source(s) of such differences.