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Selective Laser Melting (SLM) is a powder-based additive manufacturing process that has gained substantial interest in recent years due to its feasibility of producing geometrically- complex metallic components for end-use in various industries, with or without post-treatment procedures. This paper presents recent research undertaken on different scanning strategies and process parameters with the purpose of providing an overview of the achievable material performance of Ti6Al4V components, and comparing its properties with the conventionally-produced parts. In order to understand their output, differences in the building strategies of the systems studied are analysed, and their influence on the resulting mechanical and metallurgical properties is highlighted.

In industry, post-process heat treatments of Ti-6Al-4V are performed with the aim of improving its tensile behaviour. While heat treatments of wrought Ti6Al4V have been standardised (e.g., Aerospace Material Specification H-81200), heat treatments of selective laser melting (SLM)-produced Ti-6Al-4V lacks research and understanding. Significant concern exists about SLM Ti6-Al-4V’s achievable ductility attributed to its martensitic (α’) phase. In this research, heat treatments at a range of temperatures are applied to SLM-produced Ti-6Al-4V tensile samples. Microstructural analysis (both optically and through electron backscatter diffraction) was used to identify links between heat treatments and microstructure. Subsequently, uniaxial tensile tests were performed to determine the respective tensile properties of all samples. Correlations in the data show a significant loss in strength with respect to an increase in annealing temperature due to grain growth, while no noticeable trend was observed for fracture strain with regard to annealing temperatures.

LaserCUSING® is a selective laser melting (SLM) process that is capable of manufacturing parts by melting powder with heat input from a laser beam. LaserCUSING demonstrates potential for producing the intricate geometries specifically required for biomedical implants and aerospace applications. One main limitation to this form of rapid prototyping is the lack of published studies on the material performance of the resulting material. Studies of the material’s performance are often complicated by dependence on several factors, including starting powder properties, laser parameters, and post-processing heat treatments. This study aims to investigate the mechanical properties of LaserCUSING-produced Ti-6Al-4V and its performance relative to the conventional wrought counterpart. A combination of conventional and LaserCUSING-tailored heat treatments is performed. The resulting microstructures are studied and linked to the properties obtained from hardness tests. The findings highlight that LaserCused Ti-6Al-4V is competitive with traditional materials, provided that optimal parameters are chosen and parts are subject to tailored post-processing. In the as-built condition, LaserCused Ti-6Al-4V displays superior strength and hardness as a result of a martensitic microstructure, and a poorer performance in ductility. However, the material performance can be improved using tailored heat treatments. Careful consideration must be given to suitable post-processing before application in critical components in the aerospace or biomedical industry can occur

Direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) is a selective laser melting (SLM) manufacturing process that can produce near net shape parts from metallic powders. A range of materials are suitable for SLM; they include various metals such as titanium, steel, aluminium, and cobalt-chrome alloys. This paper forms part of a research drive that aims to evaluate the material performance of the SLM-manufactured metals. It presents DMLS-produced Ti-6Al-4V, a titanium alloy often used in biomedical and aerospace applications. This paper also studies the effect of several heat treatments on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Ti-6Al-4V processed by SLM. It reports the achievable mechanical properties of the alloy, including quasi-static, crack growth behaviour, density and porosity distribution, and post-processing using various heat-treatment conditions.

The study of vertical crustal motion in the contiguous United States (CONUS) has traditionally focused on the high-amplitude deformation caused by glacial isostatic adjustment. To better understand more subtle vertical crustal motion resulting from other geophysical processes, we take advantage of the ongoing expansion of continuous Global Positioning System (GPS) networks, whose geodetic observations provide ever-increasing accuracy and spatial resolution of surface deformation. Using position data for 2,782 GPS stations operating between 2007 and 2017, we produce a new vertical crustal velocity field for the CONUS region. We estimate our own station velocities to ensure consistent treatment of time series outliers, noise, and offsets, and we use adaptive smoothing and interpolation to account for spatially varying station density. Our velocity field reveals spatially coherent vertical features that are representative of regional tectonics, hydrologic, and anthropogenic processes. By removing the effects of modeled glacial isostatic adjustment and hydrologic loading estimated from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) data, we reduce the variance in our velocity field by 36% and show residuals potentially due to geocenter motion and underlying tectonics.

The advent of digital image and volume correlation has attracted wide use in fracture mechanics. The full‐field nature of digital image and volume correlation allows for the integration of computational fracture mechanics to analyse cracked samples quantitatively. This review provides a comprehensive overview of current methods used to extract fracture properties from full‐field displacement data. The term full‐field fracture mechanics is introduced to highlight the uniqueness of using inherently noisy experiential data to extract fracture properties. The review focuses on post‐processing‐based approaches rather than integrated approaches, as these have less limitations and are more commonly employed. There are four approaches that are discussed in extracting fracture properties from experimentally computed displacement data: field‐fitting, integral, crack‐opening and cohesive zone modelling approaches. This is further developed to discuss problems associated with using digital image and volume correlation to extract properties, including application examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precise and accurate digital image correlation computed displacement data requires sufficient noise suppression and spatial resolution, which improve and diminish, respectively, with increased subset size. Furthermore, spatially varying speckle pattern quality and displacement field complexity ideally necessitate a location‐specific optimal subset size to obtain a favourable compromise between noise suppression and spatial resolution. Although dynamic subset selection (DSS) methods have been proposed based on speckle pattern quality metrics (SPQMs), they do not ensure such a favourable compromise. This work investigates using an artificial neural network (ANN) for DSS. An ANN is trained to predict the displacement error standard deviation of a subset from multiple SPQMs and the standard deviation of image noise, such that the smallest subset offering sufficient noise suppression, dictated by a displacement error standard deviation threshold, is appointed. Validation, both within and outside the domain of the training images, shows that the smallest subset providing sufficient noise suppression offers a favourable compromise for up to moderate displacement gradients. Additionally, the proposed method is shown to perform with greater consistency and reliability relative to existing SPQM‐based DSS methods. The novel proposition lies in utilising an ANN as an error prediction tool, based on multiple SPQMs, and hence, is an attractive alternative for DSS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tectonic configuration of the Caribbean plate is defined by inward‐dipping double subduction at its boundaries with the North American and Cocos plates. This geometry resulted from a Paleogene plate reorganization, which involved the abandonment of an older subduction system, the Great Arc of the Caribbean (GAC), and conversion into a transform margin during Lesser Antilles (LA) arc formation. Previous models suggest that a collision between the GAC and the Bahamas platform along the North American passive margin caused this event. However, geological and geophysical constraints from the Greater Antilles do not show a large‐scale compressional episode that should correspond to such a collision. We propose an alternative model for the evolution of the region where lower mantle penetration of the Farallon slab promotes the onset of subduction at the LA. We integrate tectonic constraints with seismic tomography to analyze the timing and dynamics of the reorganization, showing that the onset of LA subduction corresponds to the timing of Farallon/Cocos slab penetration. With numerical subduction models, we explore whether slab penetration constitutes a dynamically feasible set of mechanisms to initiate subduction in the overriding plate. In our models, when the first slab (Farallon/Cocos) enters the lower mantle, compressive stresses increase at the eastern margin of the upper plate, and a second subduction zone (LA) is initiated. The resulting first‐order slab geometries, timings, and kinematics compare well with plate reconstructions. More generally, similar slab dynamics may provide a mechanism not only for the Caribbean reorganization but also for other tectonic episodes throughout the Americas. Plain Language Summary: The Caribbean tectonic plate is bounded by subduction to the east and west. However, it is unclear how this plate configuration was achieved. Previous models suggest that the North American continental margin entered an ancient Caribbean subduction zone between 66 and 34 Mya, converting the margin to strike‐slip and initiating subduction to the east at the Lesser Antilles. However, the deformation expected for this event is absent at the site of the supposed collision. Considering geological and geophysical constraints across the Caribbean, we instead suggest that mantle processes drove the reorganization. Combining tomographic images of the mantle with plate modeling, we reconstruct subduction below the Caribbean. Then, through numerical mantle convection modeling, we simulate the Caribbean subduction setting at the time of the reorganization. Our results show that when a subducting plate enters the lower, higher viscosity part of the mantle, it affects mantle flow, causing compression in the overriding plate and the potential initiation of a second subduction zone. The timing when the first slab enters the lower mantle and subduction initiates aligns well with our reconstructions and geological constraints in the Caribbean. We hypothesize that a similar process may explain other major deformation episodes throughout the Americas. Key Points: Tectonic constraints conflict with previously proposed collision and escape models for Paleogene Caribbean reorganizationSlab reconstructions and geodynamic models suggest Farallon slab anchoring induced tectonic reorganizationIn this model, lower mantle slab penetration triggers mantle flow, lithospheric compression, and subduction initiation [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of mantle plumes is secondary to that of subducting slabs for modern plate tectonics when considering plate driving forces. However, the impact of plumes on tectonics and planetary surface evolution may nonetheless have been significant. We use numerical mantle convection models in a 3‐D spherical chunk geometry with damage rheology to study some of the dynamics of plume‐slab interactions. Substantiating our earlier 2‐D results, we observe a range of interaction scenarios, and that the plume‐driven subduction terminations we had identified earlier persist in more realistic convective flow. We analyze the dynamics of plume affected subduction, including in terms of their geometry, frequency, and the overall effect of plumes on surface dynamics as a function of the fraction of internal to bottom heating. Some versions of such plume‐slab interplay may be relevant for geologic events, for example, for the inferred ∼183 Ma Karoo large igneous province formation and associated slab disruption. More recent examples may include the impingement of the Afar plume underneath Africa leading to disruption of the Hellenic slab, and the current complex structure imaged for the subduction of the Nazca plate under South America. Our results imply that plumes may play a significant role not just in kick‐starting plate tectonics, but also in major modifications of slab‐driven plate motions, including for the present‐day mantle. Plain Language Summary: Subduction of cold, strong lithospheric slabs is the main plate driving force within mantle convection. However, hot upwellings, mantle plumes, may have a greater role in modulating plate motions and slab trajectories than previously thought. We use 3‐D numerical convection models that account for the weakening of rocks due to the accumulation of deformation to understand the effect that mantle plumes can have on subduction zones. We show that plumes can terminate subduction in a range of circumstances. We also test the effect of the amount of internal heating compared to heat from the core which is the major convective control on the importance of plumes. We discuss cases where these plume‐slab terminations may have occurred on Earth, in the geological past, and for the present day through plate reconstructions and consideration of seismic tomography. Key Points: Mantle plumes can terminate subduction in 3‐D, damage rheology convectionPlumes can modulate subducting slabs and plate tectonic regimesPlume‐slab interactions are plausible contributions to the Karoo‐Gondwana event [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study used laser powder bed fusion to produce highly dense Ti-4.7Mo-4.5Fe through in-situ alloying. The relative density range of the printed samples was from 96. 3 to 99.5 %. Partially unmelted Mo and lack of fusion pores were observed on some samples produced using a laser power of 80 W with a high scanning speed. Better diffusion of Mo in the Ti matrix and pores were observed at a higher laser power of 164-200 W. The microhardness of the printed samples was higher than that of other β-Ti with Mo as β stabiliser and was comparable to the microhardness of the Ti-4.7Mo-4.5Fe alloy produced using conventional methods. The phase identification of the printed samples indicated that samples of Ti-4.7Mo-4.5Fe containing α+β phases were produced, with β being the dominant phase. Microstructural analyses showed that the lamellar α structure was embedded within the equiaxed columnar β grains.

Predicting and preventing stress induced support failure during laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) processing requires knowledge of the fracture toughness of the material in its as-built condition. When performing laboratory measurement of fracture toughness, large residual stresses that are present in the part due to the LPBF process can significantly affect the measurement and must be taken into consideration. In this article, fracture toughness in the as-built condition was measured to be 26 MPa.m1/2 and the residual stress distribution in the crack plane was determined with simulation. Finally, the effective fracture toughness of the material was calculated, using the principle of superposition, to be ~ 47 MPa.m1/2.

Biomedical implants require stiffnesses matching those of the surrounding bone to avoid stress shielding. Triply-periodic-minimal-surface (TPMS) structures have shown promising characteristics in preventing stress shielding; however, they are limited in allowing for anisotropic stiffness properties that are typically inherent in bone. This paper presents an approach to simplifying a TPMS structure so that common geometries can be used to approximate it. The wall thickness is varied until the desired functional and directional stiffnesses are determined through finite element modelling. Validation of the finite element models is provided through the compression testing of laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) produced specimens. The displacement response to compression testing is presented along with the final structure, which closely matches the stiffness of bone. This approach has the potential to increase implant longevity and improve the lives of implant recipients.