Influence of printing orientation of Inconel 718 specimens on LEFM parameters analyzed via DVC

Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) is an additive manufacturing technique that enables for the production of metallic parts with complex geometries, and the possibility of locally adapting mesostructures. This study aims at determining the influence of hatch angle and build orientation on Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics (LEFM) parameters of specimens obtained by LPBF. In the present work, the mechanical response of mini CT specimens made of Inconel 718 alloy obtained by LPBF were studied when subjected to in-situ tensile loading. The LEFM parameters of the different specimens were extracted from displacement fields measured with Digital Volume Correlation (DVC) using Williams' fields. The crack front and Stress Intensity Factors (SIF) profiles of the different experiments were analyzed. The extracted LEFM parameters for the different specimens displayed significant differences in Young's Modulus and fracture toughness due to variations in build orientation.