Grain refining of Ti-6Al-4V alloy fabricated by laser and wire additive manufacturing assisted with ultrasonic vibration

Abstract

The formation of the coarse columnar crystal structure of Ti-6Al-4V alloy in the process of additive manufacturing greatly reduces the mechanical performance of the additive manufactured parts, which hinders the applications of additive manufacturing techniques in the engineering fields. In order to refine the microstructure of the materials using the high intensity ultrasonic via the acoustic cavitation and acoustic flow effect in the process of metal solidification, an ultrasonic vibration technique was developed to a synchronous couple in the process of Laser and Wire Additive Manufacturing (LWAM) in this work. It is found that the introduction of high-intensity ultrasound effectively interrupts the epitaxial growth tendency of prior-β crystal and weakens the texture strength of prior-β crystal. The microstructure of Ti-6Al-4V alloy converts to fine columnar crystals from typical coarse columnar crystals. The simulation results confirm that the acoustic cavitation effect applied to the molten pool created by the high-intensity ultrasound is the key factor that affects the crystal characteristics.

Keywords: Acoustic cavitation; Grain refining; High-intensity ultrasound; Laser and wire additive manufacturing; Ti-6Al-4V alloy.