Fabricating a single-crystal-like β grain structure of a near-β Ti alloy with unique variant selection by laser powder bed fusion.

[Display omitted] • Fabrication of single-crystal-like anistropic β grain structures of a near-β Ti alloy. • Flat-top laser used in laser powder bed fusion without single-crystal seeds. • Homogeneous 〈0 0 1〉-oriented β texture with low-angle grain boundaries. • Precipitation of 〈 2 1 ¯ 1 ¯ 0 〉 -oriented α phase from 〈0 0 1〉-oriented β matrix predominant. • Single α variant widely distributed without any multiple-variant clusters. A near-β Ti alloy with a highly anisotropic single-crystal-like β grain structure was fabricated on a polycrystalline pure-Ti substrate by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) using a flat-top laser with bidirectional scanning and 90° hatch rotation. The as-fabricated specimen had an acicular microstructure with 12 α variants. β-annealing followed by air-cooling revealed the growth of columnar β grains with a 〈0 0 1〉 orientation in the build direction from the center outward with increasing height, which formed a highly anisotropic β grain structure with a 〈0 0 1〉 orientation in the build direction and 〈1 0 0〉 or 〈0 1 0〉 orientation along the scan direction with low-angle grain boundaries (LAGBs) in the β matrix. The predominant 〈 2 1 ¯ 1 ¯ 0 〉 -oriented and minor 〈 10 1 ¯ 2 〉 -oriented α phases precipitated in the 〈0 0 1〉-oriented β matrix according to the Burgers orientation relationship. The 〈 10 1 ¯ 2 〉 -oriented α phase was found to form on some LAGBs. Notably, a single α variant was widely distributed without forming multiple-variant clusters across the highly anisotropic β grain structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]