Texture analysis of additively manufactured Ti-6Al-4V using neutron diffraction

This study presents a detailed characterization of room temperature bulk microstructure and texture of additively manufactured Ti-6Al-4V alloy samples with the neutron time-of-flight diffractometer HIPPO. A comparison is made between samples that were manufactured by two different methods utilizing selective laser melting and electron beam melting. Analysis of the orientation distribution function shows a dependency upon the particular fabrication technique used as well as on the location within the built body and orientation relative to the build direction. It is shown that the texture components strength in the hexagonal phase depends on the relative tilt angle between the build direction and that the overall texture of samples prepared with the electron beam method is weaker than those prepared with the selective laser melting. Such knowledge on the bulk microstructure allows to optimize additive manufacturing process parameters.