Oxygen-free production: Influence of silane-doped atmosphere on porosity and mechanical properties of Ti-6Al-4V processed by PBF-LB

In laser-based powder bed fusion of metals (PBF-LB/M), the atmospheric residual oxygen plays a key role, particularly for highly reactive materials like Ti-6Al-4V. Oxygen concentrations present in commercial machines are still too high to effectively prevent oxidation of the powder and oxygen take-up into built parts deteriorating the part quality and mechanical properties. In this work, to reduce the residual oxygen content to a range adequate to an extreme high vacuum (XHV) while maintaining normal pressure, a silane-doped argon atmosphere (< 0.001 vol.-% silane in argon) is introduced. Ti-6Al-4V powder was processed both under a conventional argon atmosphere (< 0.01 vol.-% oxygen) and argon-silane atmosphere (< 10^-20 vol.-% oxygen). The influence on the resulting porosity was investigated using a central composite design. Additionally, the tensile properties were analyzed. High tensile strengths > 1290 MPa and low porosities < 0.02 %, but no significant influence of the atmosphere was found.