Papers by Author: Karen M. Taminger

Abstract: Direct manufacturing of metallic materials has gained widespread interest in the past decade. Of the methods that are currently under evaluation, wire-fed electron beam deposition holds the most promise for producing large-scale titanium parts for aerospace applications [1]. This method provides the cleanest processing environment as the deposition is performed under vacuum. While this environment is beneficial in preventing contamination of the deposit, there is the potential for preferential vaporization of high vapor pressure elements during the deposition process. This can lead to detrimental chemistry variations, which can have negative impacts on physical and mechanical properties. Past experience has shown that deposition of the alloy Ti-6Al-4V using electron beam direct manufacturing can produce material with aluminum content below the specification minimum [2]. As aluminum has a high vapor pressure with respect to titanium and vanadium, it preferentially vaporizes from the molten pool. This aluminum loss scales with the size of the molten pool and thus the chemical content can vary throughout the build. Compensating for this loss is necessary in order to achieve nominal chemistry in the deposited material. This paper examines established processing conditions for direct manufacturing of titanium, quantitatively determines deposited alloy chemistry changes under various conditions, and suggests a feedstock composition that will result in deposited material with nominal Ti-6Al-4V chemistry.

Abstract: Electron beam freeform fabrication (EBF3) is a new layer-additive process that has been developed for near-net shape fabrication of complex structures. EBF3 uses an electron beam to create a molten pool on the surface of a substrate. Wire is fed into the molten pool and the part translated with respect to the beam to build up a 3-dimensional structure one layer at a time. Unlike many other freeform fabrication processes, the energy coupling of the electron beam is extremely well suited to processing of aluminum alloys. The layer-additive nature of the EBF3 process results in a tortuous thermal path producing complex microstructures including: small homogeneous equiaxed grains; dendritic growth contained within larger grains; and/or pervasive dendritic formation in the interpass regions of the deposits. Several process control variables contribute to the formation of these different microstructures, including translation speed, wire feed rate, beam current and accelerating voltage. In electron beam processing, higher accelerating voltages embed the energy deeper below the surface of the substrate. Two EBF3 systems have been established at NASA Langley, one with a low-voltage (10-30kV) and the other a high-voltage (30-60 kV) electron beam gun. Aluminum alloy 2219 was processed over a range of different variables to explore the design space and correlate the resultant microstructures with the processing parameters. This report is specifically exploring the impact of accelerating voltage. Of particular interest is correlating energy to the resultant material characteristics to determine the potential of achieving microstructural control through precise management of the heat flux and cooling rates during deposition.

Abstract: The electron beam freeform fabrication (EBF3) layer-additive manufacturing process has been developed to directly fabricate complex geometry components. EBF3 introduces metal wire into a molten pool created on the surface of a substrate by a focused electron beam. Part geometry is achieved by translating the substrate with respect to the beam to build the part one layer at a time. Tensile properties have been demonstrated for electron beam deposited aluminum and titanium alloys that are comparable to wrought products, although the microstructures of the deposits exhibit features more typical of cast material. Understanding the metallurgical mechanisms controlling mechanical properties is essential to maximizing application of the EBF3 process. In the current study, mechanical properties and resulting microstructures were examined for aluminum alloy 2219 fabricated over a range of EBF3 process variables. Material performance was evaluated based on tensile properties and results were compared with properties of Al 2219 wrought products. Unique microstructures were observed within the deposited layers and at interlayer boundaries, which varied within the deposit height due to microstructural evolution associated with the complex thermal history experienced during subsequent layer deposition. Microstructures exhibited irregularly shaped grains, typically with interior dendritic structures, which were described based on overall grain size, morphology, distribution, and dendrite spacing, and were correlated with deposition parameters. Fracture features were compared with microstructural elements to define fracture paths and aid in definition of basic processingmicrostructure- property correlations.