Understanding the role of geometry and interlayer cooling time on microstructure variations in LPBF Ti6Al4V through part-scale scan-resolved thermal modeling

In this study, we investigated the microstructural variation of Ti-6Al-4 V in inverted pyramid parts built using Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF). Two parts were fabricated with and without ghost parts to study the effects of interlayer delay time on thermal history and microstructure. Finite Element Method (FEM) based process simulation was used to predict the thermal history and cooling rates during the LPBF process to understand the location-specific microstructure and mechanical properties variation. The thermal analysis findings revealed that the variations in the cooling rates and pre-deposition temperature were notably significant. Within the same part, the cooling rates exhibited significant variations, differing by up to three orders of magnitude in two scenarios: (1) within the same layer, influenced by the proximity to the edges, and (2) at different heights, attributable to the strongly varying cross-section. Comparing the two parts, the cooling rates of the part with ghost parts were approximately two orders of magnitude higher than in the part without the ghost parts. This significant difference can be attributed to the extended interlayer cooling time and lower pre-deposition temperature resulting from the presence of two ghost parts which introduced an effective delay time between laser scans. Experimental validation against microstructure images and hardness measurements showed similar trends with the predicted results. These findings provide valuable insights into controlling microstructure at specific locations during LPBF fabrication, which is essential for building complex geometries with controlled material properties.