The Effect of Geometry on Local Processing State in Additively Manufactured Ti-6Al-4V Lattices

Laser-based powder bed fusion is a thermal metal additive manufacturing process suitable for the fabrication of complex structures. Laser-based powder bed fusion induces large localized thermal gradients and cooling rates, which can produce significant variation in mechanical properties by affecting the underlying microstructure and porosity. This research describes how thermal imaging data can be analyzed to establish correlations for geometric factors such as strut diameter, inclination angle, and lattice location with thermal field variables. This research develops a methodology to analyze full-field temporal and spatial data across entire printed objects and systematically classify those data based on local and far-field geometry characteristics. This methodology is applied to generate an experimental time–temperature dataset for: (1) evaluation of the interactions of specific local geometric features and the local processing characteristics, (2) evaluation and calibration of proposed thermal models and (3) providing a methodology to validate other qualitative but higher spatial and temporal resolution in-process monitoring approaches.