Wire based additive layer manufacturing: Comparison of microstructure and mechanical properties of Ti-6Al-4V components fabricated by laser-beam deposition and shaped metal deposition

The microstructure and the mechanical properties of Ti-6Al-4V components, fabricated by two different wire based additive layer manufacturing techniques, namely laser-beam deposition and shaped metal deposition, are presented. Both techniques resulted in dense components with lamellar α/β microstructure. Large ultimate tensile strength values between 900 and 1000 MPa were observed. The strain at failure strongly depends on the orientation, where highest values up to 19% were obtained in direction of the building direction. Heat treatment increased the highest strain at failure up to 22%. The fatigue limit was observed to be higher than 770 MPa.