| Summary: | The focus of this research project was to determine experimentally the fatigue and fracture toughness characteristic, from a fracture mechanics perspective, of Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy manufactured by Selective Laser Melting (SLM). Three build orientations are considered where a fatigue crack is grown parallel and two are grown perpendicular to the build orientation. The project then endeavours to generate a fracture mechanics based Paris equation from the fatigue crack growth rate results and together with the fracture toughness, fatigue life predictions may be determined based on crack propagation lifetimes. SLM is an Additive Manufacturing (AM) technique whereby an object is fabricated in a layerwise manner via the use of lasers, directly from a 3D CAD model. This process allows for the manufacture of complex designs in its net or near net shape form, which is not possible with conventional manufacturing techniques. There are minimal amounts of material wastage and it potentially eliminates post manufacture machining and processing costs. Ti- 6Al-4V is used in many applications where high strength at low density is required at moderate temperatures. Corrosion resistance qualities of the alloy are also considered for many applications. Some of the applications where this alloy is used include turbine engine components, aircraft structural components, aerospace fasteners, high-performance automotive parts, marine applications, medical implant devices and sports equipment. Due to the large use of the alloy in industry and with the potential benefits of manufacturing by SLM, there is a great need for investigating SLM Ti-6Al-4V as a viable alternative to conventional casting, forging and machining. There is limited literature covering the fatigue crack growth rate and fracture toughness of SLM Ti-6Al-4V and the effect of build orientation on these characteristics. However, it is clear, from the limited available literature that fatigue crack growth rate behaviour is affected by build orientation, and so this project investigates the effect of these orientations, and aims to contribute to understanding why these orientation effects occur. Since there is even less literature available on the fracture toughness of SLM Ti-6Al-4V with respect to build orientation, this project also endeavours to characterise orientation effects on fracture toughness, if any, and compares these with those of conventionally manufacture Ti-6Al-4V.
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