Characterization of Titanium Alloy (Ti6Al4V) Obtained by Additive Manufacturing

The development of additive manufacturing processes (3D printing), applied to metal alloys, is in line with the industry's current need for optimization, cost and development time reduction, allowing the construction of representative prototypes with equivalent materials / mechanical characteristics and customized end products, such as prostheses and brake system calipers, for which Ti6Al4V alloy has wide application due to biocompatibility and resistance. In addition, the need for more resilient materials is becoming ever greater at same time that failures need to be avoided. The occurrence of failures in structural components generates consumer dissatisfaction, which can result in serious accidents and the use of numerical tools during the project contributes to its prediction. For this, it is necessary to know the structural characteristics of the material resulting from the printing processes to guarantee robust designs. Currently there are few available information regarding mechanical and micro-structural proprieties on titanium alloy Ti6Al4V obtained by 3D printing process compared with other process. Thus, through physical tests of specimens according to ASTM A370-08^a and microstructural evaluations, became possible the alloy characterization obtained by additive manufacturing and obtained proprieties correlation with conventional manufacturing process and with involved printing parameters. The adequate survey of the mechanical characteristics of components obtained through additive manufacturing is essential to ensure success in the application of this new technology.