Compact tension specimens were fabricated with Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy by selective laser melting. Some specimens were heat treated and some were hot-isostatic pressed (HIPed). Half of these specimens in three conditions were polished. Fatigue crack growth (FCG) test was conducted to obtain FCG data
and to research into the effect of post-processes. The microstructure and fractography were observed to find possible reasons for FCG variaton. The results indicated that
FCG preformance of as-built SLM Ti-6Al-4V is inferior to conventional material due to the fine needle martensitic structure and large residual stress. Both heat treatment and hot-isostatic pressing lead to thicker o phase and more ß phase
diminsh or even eliminate the residual stress
and improve FCG performance signifcantly. FCG rates of heat treated and HIPed speicmens are comparable to those of Ti-6Al-4V fabricated by conventional techonology. When the crack length and stress intensity factor are larger than a certain value