The influence of post-process operations on the mechanical properties of titanium alloy Ti-6Al-7Nb, produced by selective laser melting

Even though selective laser melting (SLM) has been available for more than a decade, during few last years the interest in this technology has grown extremely. SLM technology allows to fabricate fully functional and complex metal objects, layer by layer, via selective melting of material using laser beam. However, producing object by melting thin layers of material causes conditions of fast heat removal. This phenomenon leads to equilibrium microstructures, accompanied by the residual stresses which cause the decrease of mechanical properties. The following paper presents the result of research in the field of the influence of the post-process operations, such as machining and heat treatment, on the mechanical properties of alloy Ti-6Al-7Nb build by SLM.