Influence of heating and solidification conditions on the structure and surface quality of electron-beam melted Ti–6Al–4V ingots

Electron-beam cold-hearth melting is an emerging process used to eliminate high- and low-density inclusions during melt processing and to reduce the number of remelting steps for high quality titanium alloys. In the present work, the effect of ingot heating conditions on the evolution of ingot macrostructure and surface quality during solidification following electron-beam melting of Ti–6Al–4V was established via prototype production trials. Macrostructure observations correlated well with temperature gradients and solidification rates estimated from solidification calculations. These calculations also provided insight into the effect of melting conditions on ingot surface quality and hence associated product yield.