Comparison between laser and TIG welding of electron beam melted Ti6Al4V parts

Murat Sen; Mustafa Kurt

doi:10.1515/mt-2023-0149

Article

Comparison between laser and TIG welding of electron beam melted Ti6Al4V parts

Murat Sen
Murat Sen, born in 1991, studied Mechanical Engineering and finished his master education in the Materials Science and Manufacturing Technologies of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey. He started his PhD in 2017 at Marmara University and completed in 2023. He has been working as a research assistant since 2016 at Marmara University. Mechanical testing, welding process, and additive manufacturing are his primary topics of interest.
and Mustafa Kurt
Mustafa Kurt, born in 1964. He received his bachelor’s degree from Marmara University. He completed his master and PhD education at Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey. He has been working as a professor since 2002 at Marmara University. Mechanical testing, product design, additive manufacturing, and topology analysis are his primary topics of interest.

Published/Copyright: September 20, 2023

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From the journal Materials Testing Volume 65 Issue 12

Abstract

A large number of metal parts specific to the aviation, energy, and biomedical industries are produced by the electron beam melting (EBM) method, which is one of the powder bed additive manufacturing techniques. The limited build volume of EBM machines does not allow the production of parts in the desired dimensions. One way to overcome this limitation is to weld small size additive manufactured parts. In this study, EBMed Ti6Al4V tensile specimens were joined by laser (LBW) and tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding. Welding morphologies, microstructures, and mechanical properties of joints were investigated. The main defects in the samples are pore formation and insufficient penetration. The weld zones of TIG samples contain a higher amount of pores than laser samples, and these pores are distributed over the entire area of the weld. The pores are less than 200 µm in diameter. TIG welded samples exhibited higher mechanical properties than laser welded samples. The highest microhardness was measured in the weld zone. Microhardness of laser welded samples are higher than TIG welded samples. While the welding regions of TIG welded samples consist of coarse and acicular α and α + β structures, laser welded samples consist of thin and acicular α′ structure.

Keywords: Ti–6Al–4V alloy; electron beam melting (EBM); laser beam welding (LBW); tungsten inert gas welding (TIG); mechanical properties

Corresponding author: Murat Sen, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Marmara Universitesi, Maltepe, Istanbul, 34722, Türkiye, E-mail: murat.sen@marmara.edu.tr

About the authors

Murat Sen

Murat Sen, born in 1991, studied Mechanical Engineering and finished his master education in the Materials Science and Manufacturing Technologies of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey. He started his PhD in 2017 at Marmara University and completed in 2023. He has been working as a research assistant since 2016 at Marmara University. Mechanical testing, welding process, and additive manufacturing are his primary topics of interest.

Mustafa Kurt

Mustafa Kurt, born in 1964. He received his bachelor’s degree from Marmara University. He completed his master and PhD education at Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey. He has been working as a professor since 2002 at Marmara University. Mechanical testing, product design, additive manufacturing, and topology analysis are his primary topics of interest.

Research ethics: Not applicable.
Author contributions: The authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.
Competing interests: The authors state no conflict of interest.
Research funding: None declared.
Data availability: Not applicable.

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Published Online: 2023-09-20

Published in Print: 2023-12-15

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/mt-2023-0149

Keywords for this article

Ti–6Al–4V alloy; electron beam melting (EBM); laser beam welding (LBW); tungsten inert gas welding (TIG); mechanical properties