This article reports on the characterization of the “as-fabricated” state of Inconel 718 samples fabricated using laser directed energy deposition (DED). Laser-DED is known to produce complex metastable microstructures that can significantly influence the baseline ultrasonic response compared to conventional processing methods. The present work uses three parameters to characterize the samples: (a) ultrasonic velocity, (b) an attenuation coefficient, and (c) a backscatter coefficient. The baseline ultrasonic response from the DED sample was compared against the ultrasonic properties of conventional IN718 samples reported in the literature. The results suggest that strong grain boundary scattering from large macrograins can lead to attenuation and backscatter values that are significantly higher than conventional samples. Additionally, the results including velocities, attenuation and backscatter coefficients were found to be dependent on the fabrication direction, with the build direction being different from the transverse directions. Finally, destructive analysis was used to develop conjectures to explain the experimentally observed ultrasonic response.

This article explores the use of ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation for qualification of laser-DED IN718 samples. The main goal of this article is to identify potential ultrasonic parameters which have highest sensitivity to microstructral changes that result from fabrication of DED samples. The ultrasonic qualification parameters were extracted from ultrasonic testing including velocity and attenuation measurement, and C-Scan imaging. These measurements were further used to extract parameters that quantify the anisotropy, microstructural heterogeneity, and grain scattering. Two laser-DED IN718 samples fabricated with slightly different processing parameters were evaluated to observe the influence of the laser power and scan speed on the qualification parameters. The identified qualification parameters were compared for these two samples, along with a hot-rolled sample that was also used as reference. The results suggest that the anisotropy, attenuation, and heterogeneity were highest in the DED samples compared to the reference sample. The identified qualification parameters seem to capture these changes, suggesting they could be potentially used for qualification of AM parts.