Pulsed laser-assisted additive manufacturing of Ti-6Al-4V for in-situ grain refinement

Metal additive manufacturing (AM) enables rapid customization of complex parts. However, it leads to forming of columnar grain structures which give the AM parts anisotropic properties. In this study, we propose a pulsed laser-assisted AM (PLAAM) technique for in-situ grain refinement of Ti-6Al-4V parts. A nanosecond pulsed laser was focused onto a melt pool to generate a favorable environment for the promotion of fine equiaxed grains. The PLAAM technique provided an average prior-β grain size of 549.6 μm, compared to that of 1297 μm provided by the conventional AM technique. Moreover, the maximum value of multiples of uniform distribution of the β phase decreased from 16 to 7.7 when using the PLAAM technique, which indicates a weakened crystallographic texture. These changes confirm that the proposed PLAAM technique promotes finer and more equiaxed prior-β grains. Furthermore, because the proposed technique is a non-contact technique, it can be applied to existing processes without adjusting tool paths.