In recent years, laser-based powder-bed fusion (LPBF), which is one among the additive manufacturing
(AM) technology, is gaining its importance in the medical field by producing customised and complex
geometry implants. Ti-6Al-4V, a dual phase alloy, owing to its outstanding properties such as low
density, specific strength, biocompatibility and corrosion resistance, widely used for biomedical
implants. The conventionally processed Ti-6Al-4V alloys (wrought or cast) exhibits stable
microstructure consisting of α- and β- phases. However, the AM LPBF process utilises a high energy
laser and the layer-wise melting introduces a rapid thermal cycle involving steep heating and cooling
rates, which results in a metastable microstructure in Titanium alloys. The as-built Ti-6Al-4V alloy
consists of α′ martensite which possesses a poor ductility. It is believed that the post heat treatment
will transform the metastable microstructure into a thermodynamically stable microstructure,
thereby attaining a trade-off between strength and ductility. The current research involves the
selection of heat treatment in the α + β field of the Ti-6Al-4V alloy. In addition to considering the
mechanical property, the corrosion and wear properties are also a prime factor for a successful
implantation. The influence of microstructure on corrosion and tribological properties are also
studied. Therefore, the present work focuses on understanding the mechanical, corrosion and
tribological properties by studying the underlying microstructure and phase transformation via
various characterization techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy
(SEM), electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM),
transmission Kikuchi Diffraction (TKD), and atom Probe Tomography (APT).
Keywords: Ti-6Al-4V; heat treatment; Mechanical, Corrosion and Tribological properties.