Longitudinal Compression Behavior of Functionally Graded Ti-6Al-4V Meshes

The compressive deformation behavior in the longitudinal direction of graded Ti-6Al-4V meshes fabricated by electron beam melting was investigated using experiments and finite element methods (FEM). The results indicate that the overall strain along the longitudinal direction is the sum of the net strain carried by each uniform mesh constituent and the deformation behavior fits the Reuss model well. The layer thickness and the sectional area have no effect on the elastic modulus, whereas the strength increases with the sectional area due to the edge effect of each uniform mesh constituent. By optimizing 3D graded/gradient design, meshes with balanced superior properties, such as high strength, energy absorption and low elastic modulus, can be fabricated by electron beam melting.