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Abstract The metal additive manufacturing industry is actively developing instruments and strategies to enable higher productivity, optimal build quality, and controllable as-built microstructure. A beam controlling technique, laser oscillation has shown potential in all these aspects in laser welding; however, few attempts have been made to understand the underlying physics of the oscillating keyholes/melt pools which are the prerequisites for these strategies to become a useful tool for laser-based additive manufacturing processes. Here, to address this gap, we utilized a synchrotron-based X-ray operando technique to image the dynamic keyhole oscillation in Ti-6Al-4V using a miniature powder bed fusion setup. We found good agreement between the experimental observations and simulations performed with a validated Lattice Boltzmann multiphysics model. The study revealed the continuous and periodic fluctuations in the characteristic keyhole parameters that are unique to the oscillating laser beam processing and responsible for the chevron pattern formation at solidification. In particular, despite the intrinsic longer-range fluctuation, the oscillating technique displayed potential for reducing keyhole instability, mitigating porosity formation, and altering surface topology. These insights on the oscillating keyhole dynamics can be useful for the future development and application of this technique. 

This study investigates the use of hydride-dehydride non-spherical Ti-6Al-4V powders in laser powder bed fusion process and the effects of post-heat-treatments on additively manufactured parts. As-built parts show anisotropic microstructure with α′ martensite and some β phases. Post heat-treated parts exhibit α + β phases, with characteristics dependent on the heat treatment. Heat treatment below β-transus leads to homogenized grain structures with improved corrosion resistance. Electrochemical analysis reveals a very stable corrosion rate due to faster formation of a protective passive layer aided by the fine-structured β phase. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy examines corrosion behavior and film growth mechanism in saline water.