Additive manufacturing of strong and ductile Ti-6Al-4V by selective laser melting via in situ martensite decomposition

Novel ultrafine lamellar (a + b) microstructures comprising ultrafine (200-300 nm) a-laths and retained b phases were created via promoting in situ decomposition of a near a 0 martensitic structure in Ti-6Al-4V additively manufactured by selective laser melting (SLM). As a consequence, the total tensile elongation to failure reached 11.4% while maintaining high yield strength above 1100 MPa, superior to both conventional SLM-fabricated Ti-6Al-4V containing non-equilibrium acicular a 0 martensite and conventional mill-annealed Ti-6Al-4V. The formation and decomposition of a 0 martensite in additively manufactured Ti-6Al-4V was studied via specially designed experiments including single-track deposition, multi-layer deposition and post-SLM heat treatment. The essential SLM additive manufacturing conditions for Ti-6Al-4V including layer thickness, focal offset distance and energy density, under which a near a 0 martensitic structure forms in each layer and then in situ transforms into ultrafine lamellar (a + b) structures, were determined. This is the first fundamental effort that has realized complete in situ martensite decomposition in SLM-fabricated Ti-6Al-4V for outstanding mechanical properties.