REDUCING LOW CYCLE FATIGUE LIFE SCATTER OF ADDITIVE MANUFACTURED ALSI10MG USING LASER SHOCK PEENING

Additive manufactured (AM) alloys are still prone to critical manufacturing flaws, such as gaseous bubble entrapment. These defects can lead to early crack initiation reducing fatigue life and increasing scatter, especially when near surface. This research investigated the effect of femtosecond laser shock peening (FLSP) on the fatigue life of AM AlSi10Mg. Due to the low penetration of the FLSP, fatigue life remained consistent between treated and untreated specimens. Of equal importance though, the scatter was found to be reduced in the FLSP treated samples. From the high resolution DIC results, the average strain per grain in the untreated specimens showed a higher increase of strain from initial loading to final fracture as compared to the FLSP samples. Implementing the use of FLSP onto AM materials could lead to more consistent fatigue life despite the presence of porosity, leading to a path of easier certification and improved confidence in their behavior.
EXTENDED ABSTRACT

SIGNIFICANCE OF INTRA-BUILD DESIGN VARIABLES ON THE FRACTURE TOUGHNESS PROPERTIES OF ELECTRON BEAM MELTED TI6AL4V

Structurally reliable materials are essential for adopting additive manufacturing (AM) metals in safety-critical applications. Limited data on the damage-tolerance properties of metal AM materials exists, hindering the acceptance of AM metals in fracture-critical applications. A design of experiments (DOE) is used in this study to investigate the role of build space and part design parameters on the fracture toughness properties of Electron Beam Melted (EBM) Ti6Al4V. ASTM E399 tests were performed on over 100 compact tension (CT) samples in the as-built and machined conditions to obtain fracture toughness properties and evaluate the influence of part size and location within 80% of the build space. Results were comparable to wrought annealed titanium, with less than 10% variation in overall fracture toughness. Specimen location within the build envelope contributed to the observed variation, with an increase in properties with build height and specimens located in the center of the build envelope. The location-dependent properties result from changes in microstructure and porosity throughout the build space. While the experimental EBM Ti6Al4V fracture toughness properties are promising for future applications, it is crucial to consider the variation in properties due to build space location and design parameters when designing for consistency.
EXTENDED ABSTRACT