Surface morphology of Ti–6Al–4V plate fabricated by vacuum selective laser melting

A plate made of Ti–6Al–4V (Ti64) was built by vacuum selective laser melting (SLM) at a pressure of 10−2 Pa. The vacuum SLM system employed a single-mode fiber laser and three-axis galvanic mirror in order to form 3D metallic structure. In order to investigate the surface morphology on the fabricated plates, Vickers microhardness and surface roughness Ra were measured. From the results, the Vickers microhardness of the fabricated plates was recorded at 391 HV, higher than the typical 340 HV for a Ti64 plate. It was also determined that crystal orientation was evaluated with X-ray diffraction. From the results, the crystal orientation of powder is composed mainly of martensitic alpha. Diffraction peaks corresponding to β (110) were detected in vacuum SLM processed samples.