Sliding Wear Behavior of Electron Beam Melted (EBM) Ti6Al4V

The practicable application of electron beam melted (EBM) titanium parts requires acceptable mechanical, fatigue, and tribological properties. The current literature is still lacking enough investigations on the tribological properties of EBM titanium. This paper presents the preliminary results and analysis of the dry sliding behavior of electron beam melted (EBM) Ti6Al4V in as-built and machined conditions. To understand the dry sliding behavior at different built orientations, rotary abrasion tests have been conducted on EBM Ti6Al4V specimens built at three built orientations, i.e., 3°, 45°, and 90°. EBM fabricated Ti6Al4V specimens were subjected to rotary abrasion against alumina particles up to 4000 cycles. The mass removal was recorded. The wear tracks generated on Ti6Al4V specimens were inspected through scanning electron microscopy, optical microscopy, and optical 3D profiler. The wear-induced microstructure and hardness variation have been investigated. Experimental results show that the dry sliding wear behavior of EBM Ti6Al4V is influenced by built orientation due to process-induced surface asperities and hardness. Machining significantly increases wear resistance depending on built orientation, and offsets wear anisotropy. The wear mechanism is discussed as well.