Laser additive manufacturing of titanium alloys with various Al contents

Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) is an additive manufacturing technology for metals. Ti-6Al-4V (Ti64) is a frequently used material for LPBF, but as-built LPBF-Ti64 has poor ductility that limits its usage. Herein, we study how the Al content will affect the microstructure and mechanical properties of LPBF Ti-xAL-4 V alloys (x = 4, 6, 8, wt.%). The materials’ strength increases with Al%. Both Ti-4Al-4V (Ti44) and Ti-8Al-4V (Ti84) alloys exhibit higher work hardening and uniform elongation values than Ti64. This outcome is attributed to activation of multiple slip modes in Ti44 and a more heterogeneous microstructure in Ti84.