Microstructure Impact on Ultrasonic Nondestructive Inspection of Ti-6Al-4V Produced using Electron Beam Directed Energy Deposition

Microstructure and processing are often associated with mechanical performance.  The microstructure can also impact the propagation of sound through a material, which can present challenges to post process inspection.  Electron Beam Direct Energy Deposition (EB-DED) of Ti-6Al-4V under typical processing conditions produces a complex solidification microstructure that can negatively impact the ability to detect defects with ultrasound.  Furthermore, certain heat treatments may exacerbate the inspection challenges by producing a colony alpha microstructure within columnar prior beta grains.  The process-microstructure-sound propagation relationships during EB-DED processing of Ti-6Al-4V will be presented.