Small-scale mechanical properties of additively manufactured Ti-6Al-4V

Abstract

This article aims at studying microstructure and nano/micro-scale mechanical responses of Ti-6Al4V fabricated using a Laser-based Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) method. To this end, an instrumented depth-sensing nanoindentation system has been used to assess hardness, Young's modulus, strain rate sensitivity and rate dependent plastic deformation of the alloy at different build Orientations (in the Z-plane and X-plane) at ambient temperature. Indentation tests were conducted at constant proportional loading rate of 15 mN/s in a depth-controlled (hind=2000 nm) testing regime. The Microstructure characterizations were performed using optical and scanning electron microscopy to assess the correlations to the mechanical properties achieved by the nanoindentation testing to better establish structure-property relationships for L-PBF Ti-6Al-4V. It is expected that the fine microstructure, developed by fast solidification during the L-PBF process, to directly contribute to the nanoindentation measurements at different strain rates.