Analysis of multicomponent evaporation in electron beam melting and refining of titanium alloys

Experimental evidence and a mathematical model are presented to evaluate the effect of beam-scan frequency on composition change in electron-beam melting of titanium alloys. Experiments characterized the evaporation rate of commercially pure (CP) titanium and vapor composition over titanium alloy with up to 6 wt pct aluminum and 4.5 wt pct vanadium, as a function of beam power, scan frequency, and background pressure. These data and thermal mapping of the hearth melt surface are used to estimate activity coefficients of aluminum and vanadium in the hearth. The model describes transient heat transfer in the surface of the melt and provides a means of estimating enhancement of pure titanium evaporation and change in final aluminum composition due to local heating at moderate beam-scan frequencies.