Sensitivity of Ti-6Al-4V components to oxidation during out of chamber Wire plus Arc Additive Manufacturing

Reactive metals including titanium readily oxidise and should be protected from the atmosphere during Additive Manufacturing processes. This work explores the sensitivity of Ti-6Al-4V components to oxidation contamination during out of chamber Wire + Arc Additive Manufacturing when using inert gas trailing shields. Five Ti-6Al-4V components were produced with varying argon trailing shield configurations that range from ideal inert gas shielding (resulting in no surface contamination) through to very poor inert gas shielding that results in substantial surface oxidation. Despite significant changes in the degree of surface oxide contamination between each component, the overall increase in oxygen concentration in the bulk alloys was minimal and had negligible influence on the tensile strength and ductility.