Investigating Fracture of Ti-6Al-4V Tensile Specimens Manufactured by Electron Beam Powder Bed Fusion Using XFEM

This study aims to reliably predict the fracture load of the rectangular Ti-6Al-4V dogbone specimen fabricated by electron beam powder bed fusion (EB-PBF). Tensile tests were conducted, and corresponding numerical simulations were performed. The experimental data obtained from standard tensile tests were used to extract the mechanical properties of the material. Subsequently, the load-displacement responses from the experiments were used to calibrate the fracture properties for use in failure analyses performed using the extended finite element method (XFEM) by comparing the corresponding numerical and experimental results. This calibration process ensured that the model realistically represents damage initiation and evolution. It was also shown that the XFEM approach successfully captures crack initiation and propagation. The data (e.g., stiffness and fracture load) obtained from experimental tensile tests were compared with the results of numerical analyses. The discrepancy between the numerical and experimental results was within an acceptable range (below 5%) for the dogbone specimen. These findings highlighted the potential of XFEM as a reliable tool for predicting the fracture behavior of EB-PBF-produced specimens under tensile loading.