Tracking defects and microstructural heterogeneities in meso-scale tensile specimens excised from additively manufactured parts

Published

January 31, 2020

Author(s)

Jake T. Benzing, Li-Anne Liew, Nikolas W. Hrabe, Frank W. DelRio

Abstract

The commercialization of additive manufacturing (AM) is underway in the aerospace and biomedical device industries [1, 2]. However, most metal parts produced by AM are limited to non-critical applications, since the various processes produce internal porosity, anisotropy, and microstructural heterogeneities [1, 3]. It has been implied that small-scale mechanical tests can advance measurement standards for AM applications by probing the effects of defects and heterogeneities on mechanical properties at more appropriate length scales [4, 5]. Traditionally, small-scale techniques have been used to characterize location- and orientation-specific mechanical properties in wrought materials [6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. A common method for excising mechanical test specimens from bulk parts with negligible influence on specimen integrity involves electrical discharge machining (EDM) [11]. This work demonstrates that excising meso-scale tensile specimens from additively manufactured parts enables tracking of sub-surface and visible features of interest (porosity and microstructural heterogeneities) throughout the entire gauge section such that the individual contributions to deformation behavior can be assessed.

Citation

Experimental Mechanics

Volume

60

Issue

2

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11340-019-00558-4

Local Download

Keywords

additive manufacturing (AM), Ti-6Al-4V, meso-scale, tension test, electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), X-ray computed tomography (CT)

Citation

Benzing, J. , Liew, L. , Hrabe, N. and DelRio, F. (2020), Tracking defects and microstructural heterogeneities in meso-scale tensile specimens excised from additively manufactured parts, Experimental Mechanics, [online], https://doi.org/10.1007/s11340-019-00558-4 (Accessed April 26, 2024)