Temperature and Microstructure Evolution in Gas Tungsten Arc Welding Wire Feed Additive Manufacturing of Ti-6Al-4V

Area of Science:

• Materials Science and Engineering
• Additive Manufacturing
• Computational Materials Science

Background:

• Gas tungsten arc welding wire feed additive manufacturing (GTAW-WFAM) is a key process for titanium alloys.
• Predicting the final microstructure is crucial for controlling material properties.
• Previous work by authors studied process simulation and microstructural modeling separately.

Purpose of the Study:

• To couple process simulation and microstructural modeling for GTAW-WFAM.
• To predict the final microstructure of titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V.
• To validate simulation results with experimental microstructural characterization.

Main Methods:

• Finite Element Method (FEM) for temperature field and microstructural evolution.
• Density-based approach for Ti-6Al-4V microstructure computation based on temperature.
• Coupling with a model predicting alpha lath morphology thickness.

Main Results:

• Successful coupling of process simulation and microstructural modeling.
• Simulation results show good agreement with experimental microstructural analysis.
• Predicted alpha lath size validated qualitatively and quantitatively.

Conclusions:

• The coupled simulation approach provides accurate predictions for GTAW-WFAM.
• This integrated method advances the understanding and control of titanium alloy microstructures.
• Promising results indicate potential for optimizing additive manufacturing processes.