Additive manufacturing of Titanium alloy for aerospace applications: Insights into the process, microstructure, and mechanical properties

The aerospace sector has been transformed by recent advances in titanium alloy additive manufacturing for aerospace components, which introduces novel manufacturing techniques and offers special benefits in design flexibility, shortened lead times, and cost-effectiveness. Titanium alloys have excellent mechanical properties in lightweight applications but are not feasible in terms of material efficiency during conventional manufacturing. The conventional machining of titanium alloys for aerospace applications faced significant challenges such as tool wear during machining, high buy-to-fly ratio making it economically not feasible and difficulty in fabricating complex geometries Metal additive manufacturing has appeared as a better candidate for manufacturing aircraft parts with a better buy-to-fly ratio and proper material efficiency in an economical way. The previous studies on additive manufacturing of titanium alloys have focussed on overcoming these limitations and enabling the efficient utilization of titanium alloys for complex aerospace components The present study aims to review the additive manufacturing to explore the intricate relationship of the process parameters with the microstructural changes and mechanical performance. It includes the effect of process parameters on the fatigue behaviour, tensile strength, residual stresses, corrosion resistance and microstructural evolution of additively manufactured components. The integration of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) with additive manufacturing such as smart manufacturing, digital twin, and automated processes can enhance the efficiency and quality of the titanium alloy components. This implementation enables tailored design, microstructures, mechanical properties and rapid prototyping as per the requirements and specifications of the aerospace industry. Though additivemanufactured titanium alloy has made substantial advancements in the aerospace industry, further investigation is required to fully utilize its potential. The review highlights the potential to transform the aerospace sector by providing lightweight, high-performance components through advancements in process control and material performance and to fully utilise additively manufactured titanium alloy in aerospace applications.