3D-printed titanium-aluminum-vanadium alloy produced at various laser powers: evaluation of microstructures and mechanical characteristics

Achieving 3D-printed Ti6Al4V alloy with customized microstructures and mechanical characteristics remains challenging, wherein the processing efficiency mainly depends on the laser energy, mass deposition rate, and duration. Based on these factors, a simple and eco-friendly direct laser metal deposition approach was followed to get 3D-printed Ti6Al4V alloys at various laser powers (300–500 W). Herein, a 1.5-kW continuous fiber laser with a wavelength of 1080 nm was used to create a stable and dense alloy. The obtained 3D-printed specimens were characterized to assess the laser power–dependent microstructures, compositions, microhardness, grain sizes, color filling, and dimensional stability in terms of height/width. FESEM micrographs of the obtained alloys revealed the existence of porous spherical grains of mean size in the range of 50–81 μm. The alloy deposited at 300 W and 0.495 mm/s scan speed displayed the maximum hardness (excellent bong strength) value of 859.2 HV_0.5 devoid of any crack and porosity. XRD patterns of the alloy revealed the existence of α + β martensitic phase transformation which is responsible for the marginal increase of hardness. It is asserted that the proposed 3D-printed Ti6Al4V alloy can be beneficial for the development of efficient structural parts desired for diverse applications.