Lattice structures made of metal materials are very interesting since their structural efficiency is elevated, thanks to their good mechanical properties and light weight. Additive manufacturing processes are appropriate to produce those structures. However, the peculiar geometry of lattice structures causes the manufacturing process to create rather significant unconformities, affecting the structures’ mechanical properties. In this article, small trusses with different diameters were produced through electron beam melting (EBM) by varying the process parameters, like the orientation and the position in the build chamber. Then, their diameter was evaluated and compared with the nominal one. It was found that the orientation in the chamber was very influential on the geometrical error, as well as the nominal diameter, while the position in the building chamber was uninfluential. In particular, the highest deviation was found for the specimens oriented at 0° and those with a diameter of 1 mm. Moreover, a similar result was detected for the ovalisation of the truss section too.

In this work a mechanical characterization of Ti6Al4V processed by electron beam powder bed fusion additive manufacturing was carried out to investigate the viability of this technology for the manufacturing of flyable parts for general aviation aircraft. Tests were performed on different manufacturing conditions in order to investigate the effect of post processing as machining on the mechanical behavior. The study provides useful information to airframe designers and manufacturing specialists that work with this technology. The investigation confirms the low process variability and provides data to be used in the design loop of general aviation primary structural elements. The test results show a high level of repeatability indicating that the process is well controlled and reliable enough to match the airworthiness requirements. In addition, the so-called “as-built specimens”, i.e., specimens produced by the electron beam melting machine without any major post-processing, have lower mechanical performances than specimens subjected to a machining phase after the electron beam melting process. Specific primary structural elements will be designed and flight cleared, resulting from the findings presented herein.

Additive Layer Manufacturing is one of the most promising and investigated manufacturing system due to its advantages to produces near net shape components, also with a very complex shape, in a single shot. Among the different techniques now available, the Electron Beam Melting (EBM) is of particular interest in the production of metal components. Particularly the application of this technique to titanium alloys allows to produces components with a very low buy to fly ratio. In the present paper the microstructure attained is accurately described and mini tensile tests performed allowed to understand the fracture behavior of specimen with the specific microstructure realized under static load.