Dual Thermographic Monitoring of Ti-6Al-4V Cylinders during Direct Laser Deposition

Marshall, G., Young, W. J., II, Shamsaei, N., Craig, J., Wakeman, T., & Thompson, S.M. (2015). Dual Thermographic Monitoring of Ti-6Al-4V Cylinders during Direct Laser Deposition. 26th International Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium - An Additive Manufacturing Conference. Austin, TX. 259. DOI:10.13140/RG.2.1.3373.6401.

Understanding the thermal phenomena associated with Direct Laser Deposition (DLD) is necessary to begin manipulating fabricated part properties. In this study, a thermally monitored Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENS) system is used with time-invariant (uncontrolled) build parameters to construct Ti-6Al-4V cylinders with two different build paths. Both paths utilize a circular contour with serpentine hatch fill; however, successive layer patterns are varied and the effects compared between 90° and 120° angular pattern shifts. During fabrication, the part’s thermal history and melt pool temperature are recorded via an in-chamber infrared (IR) camera and a dual-wavelength (DW) pyrometer, respectively. These tools are used for non-destructive thermographic inspection (NTI) of the part to ensure target quality and/or microstructure. A unique calibration method for the IR camera utilizing the DW pyrometer data is presented and a calibration correction factor was utilized for high temperature ranges. The melt pool was found to be 40-50% superheated reaching temperatures up to 2500 ºC at times. Temperature characteristics of two different layers were compared for different hatching patters, and the results show that for a given point in time, maximum temperatures can vary based on laser raster. Temperature gradients varied and peaked at about 1000 ºC/mm along the diameter of the small rods. This can lead to anisotropy in microstructural and mechanical properties allowing for unique property growth per build path. Cooling rates within the melt pool appear to increase as maximum melt pool temperature increases, for instance, from 16,000 ºC/s – 41,000 ºC/s.