Surface Topography and Density of Ti6Al4V via LPBF After Heat Treatment

Heat treatment such as annealing is considered an essential post-processing steps for laser powder bed fusion samples. This initiative is applied to relief residual stressStress, improve mechanical properties and facilitate microstructure changes. This study aims to determine the role of heat treatment parameters in influencing the physical properties of titanium alloy, Ti6Al4V additively manufactured by LPBF. Nine sets of heat treatment parameters were developed by varying the heating temperature, heating rate and holding time. Physical properties measured included density and surface roughness. This study found that though heat treatment parameters improved density and can produce a near-fully dense LPBF samples, ultimately, they do not influence density in an apparent trend. Meanwhile, surface roughness measurement shows fluctuating values across all nine sets of parameters with no discerning trend. Nonetheless, it is concluded that the nine set of parameters of heat treatment can be used to produce high density LPBF samples with surface roughness that is well within the normally reported range.