Quantifying the dislocation structures of additively manufactured Ti-6Al-4V alloys using X-ray diffraction line profile analysis

Yamanaka, Kenta*; Kuroda, Asumi*; Ito, Miyu*; Mori, Manami*; Bian, H.*; Shobu, Takahisa  ; Sato, Shigeo*; Chiba, Akihiko*

Ti-6Al-4V alloy is widely used in aerospace and biomedical industries, and its preparation using additive manufacturing techniques has recently attracted considerable attention. Herein, the dislocation structures developed during electron beam and laser beam powder-bed fusion (EB-PBF and LB-PBF, respectively) of the Ti-6Al-4V alloy were quantitatively examined via XRD line profile analysis. Accordingly, a higher dislocation density and finer crystallite size were observed at the top cross-section from the XRD line profile analysis, suggesting that the extent of phase decomposition depended on the duration of the exposure to the elevated temperature. Nonetheless, the saturated dislocation density was as high as 10 m, where dislocation strengthening affected the overall strength of the EB-PBF specimen. Diffraction peaks of sufficient intensity that enabled the analysis of the dislocation structures in both the (')-matrix and the nanosized beta-phase precipitates at the (')-laths were obtained under high-energy synchrotron radiation; this revealed that the beta-phase had a much higher dislocation density than the surrounding (')-matrix. The enhanced dislocation accumulation in the nanosized -phase precipitates probably reflects the elemental partitioning that occurred during post-solidification cooling. The valuable insights provided in this study are expected to promote further development of alloy preparation using additive manufacturing processes.