An Understanding of Al Loss During EBF3 Deposition of Ti-6Al-4V Alloys From Cross-Sectional Geometry and Microanalysis

DOE analysis was performed to study the effect of the processing parameters for EBF³ deposition of Ti-6Al-4V alloy. A 3 × 3 matrix covering a broad range of values for beam power, wire feed, and travel speed was chosen for the analysis. Cross-sectional metallography in conjunction with image analysis was used to estimate the contribution of wire and base material to the resulting molten zone.  Chemical analysis of the deposited metal using wavelength dispersive spectroscopy (WDS) was used to estimate the aluminum loss as a function of the deposition parameters. The relative contributions of the molten wire and the re-melted substrate were computed from the WDS data and the cross-sectional areas. Results of this analysis are presented.