Additive manufacturing technologies in general and laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) in particular have been on the rise in different applications, including biomedical implants. The effects of the various L-PBF process parameters on the microstructure and properties of Ti6Al4V lattice structures have been studied before. However, the relationship between the different modes of laser scanning and the resulting microstructure, internal imperfections, and surface morphology is still underexplored. In this study, the aforementioned parameters and their effect on the compressive mechanical properties and fatigue behaviour of lattice titanium have been studied for both continuous and pulsed laser scanning modes. Moreover, the influence of various combinations of post-processing treatments, such as hot isostatic pressing (HIP), sandblasting, and chemical etching, on the quasi-static mechanical properties and fatigue endurance of the resulting materials were investigated. It was found that continuous laser strategy results in fewer imperfections and higher fatigue resistance, while pulsed laser showed a more homogenous microstructure; likely leading to a more isotropic behaviour. Furthermore, the continuous mode showed larger prior β grains preferentially oriented in the building direction, while pulsed specimens exhibited finer equiaxed grains with no preferred orientations. The highest level of fatigue life was obtained by using an optimized combination of HIP, sandblasting, and chemical etching.

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Recently, lattice titanium manufactured by additive manufacturing (AM) techniques has been utilized in various applications, including biomedical. The effects of topological design and processing parameters on the fatigue behaviour of such meta-biomaterials have been studied before. Most studies show that the fatigue life of additively manufactured lattice structures is limited. Post-processing techniques could play a major role in improving the fatigue of these promising biomaterials. This study aims to provide an in-depth investigation into the effects of heat treatments, hot isostatic pressing (HIP), sand blasting, and chemical etching on the microstructure, surface morphology, strength and fatigue resistance of selective laser melted titanium meta-biomaterials. It was found that the combination of microstructural design and surface engineering, induced by HIP and sand blasting respectively, allows to increase the endurance limit of these lattice meta-biomaterials by a factor of two. HIP treatment substantially decreased the internal porosity and transformed the microstructure to a more ductile mixture of α + β phases. Sand blasting allowed to eliminate surface imperfections and induced favourable compressive stress in the surface layer of the struts. Statement of Significance: Additively manufactured metallic meta-biomaterials are progressively being used as bone replacement orthopedic implants. While there is a great amount of research related to topological designs and their effect on mechanical (e.g. stiffness), physical (e.g. mass transport), and biological (e.g. osseointegration) properties, fatigue lifetime of such structures remains limited. This study provides fundamental investigation into the combined effect of microstructural design and surface engineering of titanium meta-biomaterial, enabled through various post treatment methods ranging from heat treatments to physical and chemical surface modifications. The findings show that fatigue life is significantly improved by applying developed herein novel method, which effortlessly can be used on other bone-mimicking metallic meta-biomaterials.

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A novel method for forming “programmed” mechanical properties in local components of a part by controlling the microstructure of the alloy under additive production is suggested. It is shown that the thermal fields acting during the additive production may be used for manipulating the preferred orientation of the growing crystals and forming different-size grains, which affects the mechanical characteristics. A gradient material from a high-temperature nickel alloy Inconel 718 with coarse elongated grains in the core and fine-grained microstructure in the external shell is produced and shown to possess higher operating characteristics than the alloy fabricated by the conventional process.

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Inconel 718 is a nickel-based superalloy commonly used in aircraft engine and nuclear applications, where components experience severe mechanical stresses. Due to the typical high temperature applications, Thermo-Mechanical Fatigue (TMF) and creep tests are common benchmarks for such applications. Additive manufacturing offers a unique way of manufacturing Inconel 718 with high degree of design freedom. However, limited knowledge exists regarding the resulting high temperature properties. The objective of this work is to evaluate creep and TMF behaviour of Inconel 718, produced by selective laser melting (SLM). A novel microstructural design, allowing for grain size control was employed in this study. The obtained functionally graded Inconel 718, exhibiting core with coarse and outside shell with fine grained microstructure, allowed for the best trade-off between creep and fatigue performance. The post heat-treatment regimens and resulting microstructures are also evaluated and its influence on creep and TMF is discussed.

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Additive manufacturing offers a unique way of anisotropic microstructure control with a high degree of design freedom. This study demonstrates that application of suitable process parameters and laser sources in selective laser melting may favour either one sharp single component texture, more uniformly distributed crystal orientation, or a combination of the above in a preferred gradient, which influence the mechanical properties. It is shown that transitions in microstructure, texture, and properties in fabricated Inconel 718 functionally graded components can be obtained at relatively small or large length scales, depending upon the functional gradient desired in a particular application. Results obtained by electron backscatter diffraction showed distinct regions of coarse elongated grains with a strong (001) orientation uniformly embedded in randomly distributed fine grained matrix. Mechanical tests in the form of hardness, tensile and in-situ digital image correlation tests showed steep transitions in the developed Inconel gradients. The observed mechanical properties were found to be primarily dependent on the grain size and texture and are superior to the cast samples for both laser sources. The developed process strategy can be further applied to design functional gradients with selected tailored properties and to account for directional anisotropy of solidified components.@en

Additive manufacturing (AM) technologies are known to allow the production of parts with an extreme degree of complexity, enabling design and functional part optimization. However, the resulting microstructures and mechanical properties of AM materials are not well understood due to unique and complex thermal cycles observed during processing. This study aims to adjust the microstructure of Inconel 718 specimens produced by selective laser melting (SLM). The microstructural design was achieved through process parameters manipulation and post-process heat treatment. The effects of heat treatment on microstructure, process induced defects, deformation behaviour and failure mechanisms were studied. Directional columnar grained microstructure accompanied by interdendritic Laves phases and carbide particles was observed in as-processed material. Hot isostatic pressing (HIP) improved mechanical properties, which was attributed to dissolution of undesirable Laves and δ-phase as well as pore closure. All investigated samples maintained their intended tailored microstructural build up with distinct differences in mechanical properties. The results presented in this study show the capability of the SLM process to produce parts with mechanical properties better than conventional Inconel material. The microstructural design demonstrated here can be exploited in AM fabrication of complex components requiring challenging high-temperature mechanical performance.

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