Thermo-hydrogen refinement and precipitation hardening of laser powder bed fusion Ti-6Al-4V

Published

July 30, 2026

Author(s)

Nicholas Derimow, Brady Butler, Zachary Levin, Jake Benzing, Joshua Cline, Nikolas Hrabe

Abstract

This work investigates the efficacy of solution treatment and over-aging (STOA) as a post-processing step to improve the mechanical properties of laser powder bed fusion (PBF-L) Ti-6Al-4V that has been subjected to a thermo-hydrogen refinement of microstructure (THRM) treatment. THRM was used to promote ductility and globularization of the PBF-L Ti-6Al-4V microstructure, whereas STOA was leveraged to increase the strength through precipitation hardening from coherent Ti3Al particles within the α phase, known as the α2 phase. An increase in hardness across the α phase was measured via nanoindentation, and a small increase in strength was measured as result of over-aging via quasi-static tensile testing, with no loss in ductility, both of which are consistent with previous studies of Ti3Al precipitation leading to increased strength without ductility losses.

Citation

Technical Note (NIST TN) - 2380

Report Number

2380

NIST Pub Series

Technical Note (NIST TN)

Pub Type

NIST Pubs

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.TN.2380

Local Download

Keywords

Ti-6Al-4V, PBF-L, hydrogen treatment, precipitation hardening, additive manufacturing

Citation

Derimow, N. , Butler, B. , Levin, Z. , Benzing, J. , Cline, J. and Hrabe, N. (2026), Thermo-hydrogen refinement and precipitation hardening of laser powder bed fusion Ti-6Al-4V, Technical Note (NIST TN), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.TN.2380, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=960952 (Accessed July 31, 2026)

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