Enhancing surface finish and increasing fatigue resistance of Ti6Al4V produced through electron beam melting via chemical machining

Abstract The surging demand for innovative components in the aerospace, biomedical, and automotive sectors has prompted extensive research on the 3D printing of titanium parts. Among various additive manufacturing techniques, electron beam melting has attracted increased attention owing to its high-density components produced per unit of time. However, the surface finishing of powder bed-based additive manufacturing methods is generally poor; that is, their mechanical performance is wanting and does not meet all the industrial standards. Higher surface finishing can be achieved by post-processing. The quality of the surface, having a substantial impact on the fatigue behavior, will give insights into the influence of chemical machining, and it cannot be ignored for an experimental trial. The rotating fatigue beam testing method was selected for this experimental campaign because of its inherent capability to stress sample surfaces more uniformly, emphasizing the effects of surface finishing.