Title: Characterisation of electron beam melting process on Ti6Al4V in order to guide finishing operation

Authors: Adrien Dolimont; Sébastien Michotte; Edouard Rivière-Lorphèvre; François Ducobu; Charlotte De Formanoir; Stéphane Godet; Enrico Filippi

Addresses: Machine Design and Production Engineering Unit, Faculty of Engineering, University of Mons, Place du parc, 20, 7000 Mons, Belgium ' SIRRIS - Collective Centre for and by the Technological Industry, 26 Rue Auguste Piccard, 6041 Gosselies, Belgium ' Machine Design and Production Engineering Unit, Faculty of Engineering, University of Mons, Place du parc, 20, 7000 Mons, Belgium ' Machine Design and Production Engineering Unit, Faculty of Engineering, University of Mons, Place du parc, 20, 7000 Mons, Belgium ' 4MAT - Materials Engineering, Characterisation, Synthesis and Recycling, Faculty of Engineering, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Avenue F.D. Roosevelt, 50 - 1050 Bruxelles (CP 165/63), Belgium ' 4MAT - Materials Engineering, Characterisation, Synthesis and Recycling, Faculty of Engineering, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Avenue F.D. Roosevelt, 50 - 1050 Bruxelles (CP 165/63), Belgium ' Machine Design and Production Engineering Unit, Faculty of Engineering, University of Mons, Place du parc, 20, 7000 Mons, Belgium

Abstract: There is still a lack of standards in the fast growing Additive Manufacturing (AM) field and efforts are still required to improve parts reliability, consistency and quality. The aim is to define machining allowance for the Electron Beam Melting (EBM) process on Ti6Al4V, which still needs finishing step. Analysis on the dimensions obtained was carried out over a large number (110) of raw printed parts having the same geometry using a coordinate measuring machine (CMM). The geometric and dimensional tolerances were highlighted. A micro-geometrical analysis was also carried out to determine the roughness dispersion. A capability analysis was conducted to define the class of tolerance for EBM process. The results show that the Interval of Tolerances (IT) class is close to sand casting process for dimensional characterisation (IT15 or even IT12 if systematic errors are suppressed). This study is carried out in order to guide finishing operations occurring after AM.

Keywords: additive manufacturing; EBM; electron beam melting; surface roughness; metrology; finishing operation; interval of tolerance; capability; Ti6Al4V; titanium alloys; finishing operations; surface quality; geometric tolerances; dimensional tolerances; coordinate measuring machines; CMMs.

DOI: 10.1504/IJRAPIDM.2015.074811

International Journal of Rapid Manufacturing, 2015 Vol.5 No.3/4, pp.320 - 338

Received: 07 Sep 2015
Accepted: 06 Nov 2015
Published online: 19 Feb 2016 *

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