Predicting Microstructure Evolution During Directed Energy Deposition Additive Manufacturing of Ti-6Al-4V

Laser engineering net shaping (LENS) is one of the representative processes of directed energy deposition (DED) in which a moving heat source having high-intensity melts and fuses metal powders together to print parts. The complex and nonuniform thermal gradients during the laser heating and cooling cycles in the LENS process directly affect the microstructural characteristics, and thereby the ultimate mechanical properties of fabricated parts. Therefore, prediction of microstructure evolution during the LENS process is of paramount importance. The objective of this study is to present a thermo-microstructural model for predicting microstructure evolution during the LENS process of Ti-6Al-4V. First, a detailed transient thermal finite element (FE) model is developed and validated for a sample LENS process. Then, a density type microstructural model which enables calculation of the α-phase fractions (i.e., Widmanstätten colony and basketweave α-phase fractions), β-phase fraction, and alpha lath widths during LENS process is developed and coupled to the thermal model. The microstructural algorithm is first verified by comparing the phase fraction results with the results presented in the literature for a given thermal history data. Second, the average lath width values calculated using the model are compared with the experimentally measured counterparts, where a reasonable agreement is achieved in both cases.