Open Access

In additive manufacturing, any change of the process parameters, such as scanning strategy, directly affects the cooling rates, heat accumulation, and overall thermal history of the build. Consequently, parts built with different process parameters tend to have different levels of crystallographic texture, residual stress, and dislocation density. These features can influence the properties of the material and their development during post-processing operations. In this study, IN718 prisms were built by laser powder bed fusion (PBF-LB/M) using two different scanning strategies (continuous 67° rotations around the build direction, ROT, and alternating 0°/67° scans, ALT) to provide two different as-built conditions. In situ time-resolved synchrotron diffraction was performed during a solution heat treatment at 1027 °C for 1 h. Ex situ scanning electron microscopy was used to support and complement the in situ observations. An approach to quantify the effect of elemental microsegregation at the cell walls is developed based on the deconvolution of asymmetric γ-nickel matrix peaks. Following this approach, the scanning strategies are shown to affect the as-built fraction of cell walls in the material, resulting in a difference of approximately 5 %, in weight fraction, between ROT and ALT (19 % vs. 24 %, respectively). This microsegregation was observed to be rapidly homogenized during the heating ramp, and no significant changes to the peak shape in the γ peaks occurred during the isothermal part of the heat treatment, regardless of the scanning strategy.

Despite the remarkable product design flexibility offered by additive manufacturing (AM) techniques, such as laser powder bed fusion, AM processes are susceptible to the formation of defects. In this context, the control of process parameters and the application of post-processing treatments, such as hot isostatic pressing (HIP), are of paramount importance to achieve the desired mechanical properties. The present study investigates the effectiveness of HIP as a function of process parameters in laser powder bed fused Ti-6V-4Al (PBF-LB/Ti64) using X-ray computed tomography. The process parameters are modified to obtain reference samples with low porosity, lack of fusion defects, or keyhole porosity. In all instances, subsurface keyhole porosity was observed in the as-built parts. Moreover, it was found that the efficacy of pore closure is dependent on the specific defect type. In the case of low porosity and keyhole pores, HIP resulted in effective closure. Conversely, larger lack of fusion defects were not closed due to their interconnectivity and the entrapment of argon gas. Subsequent heat treatments above the β-transus temperature allowed the investigation of the impact of defect type on porosity re-growth. For the first time, we reveal that lack of fusion defects are affected by considerable pore re-growth during post-HIP heat treatments of PBF-LB/Ti64. Such phenomenon is driven by the increasing internal pore pressure and local creep deformation at high temperatures. In contrast, re-growth is limited in samples with low porosity or keyhole pores.