Impact of grain orientation and phase on Volta potential differences in an additively-manufactured titanium alloy

Published

February 8, 2021

Author(s)

Jake Benzing, Olivia Maryon, Nikolas Hrabe, Paul Davis, Michael Hurley, Frank W. DelRio

Abstract

This work introduces a method for multi-modal imaging of sub-m features in an additively- manufactured (AM) titanium alloy. Ti-6Al- 4V parts manufactured with electron beam melting powder bed fusion were subjected to hot isostatic pressing and machined to remove internal porosity and contour-hatch interfaces. Techniques based in electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy (electron backscatter diffraction and scanning Kelvin probe force microscopy) were used to measure and categorize the effects of crystallographic texture, misorientation, and phase content on the relative differences in Volta potential of α-Ti and β-Ti phases. Given the tunability of additive manufacturing processes, recommendations for texture and phase control are discussed. In particular, our findings indicate that the potential for micro-galvanic corrosion initiation can be regulated in AM Ti-6Al-4V parts by minimizing both the total area of 111} prior-β grains and the number of contact points between 111} β remnants and α laths that originate from 001}prior-β grains.

Citation

AIP Advances

Volume

11

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0038114

Local Download

Keywords

additive manufacturing, EBM-PBF, Ti-6Al-4V, grain orientation, crystallographic texture, Volta potential, scanning Kelvin probe force microscopy (SKPFM)

Citation

Benzing, J. , Maryon, O. , Hrabe, N. , Davis, P. , Hurley, M. and DelRio, F. (2021), Impact of grain orientation and phase on Volta potential differences in an additively-manufactured titanium alloy, AIP Advances, [online], https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0038114 (Accessed October 25, 2025)