ABSTRACT
Electron beam melting (EBM) and plasma arc melting (PAM) are two relatively new melting processes, which are primarily used for the production of titanium (Ti) and Ti alloys. The original objective of using these two processes was to reduce melt-related defects such as high-density inclusions (HDis) and type I hard-alpha defects in premium quality Ti materials for jet engine rotating components [1-7]. Currently, about 20% of the jet engine rotor-grade Ti alloys are required to use either EBM or PAM as one of the melting steps [7]. In addition to reducing detrimental inclusions, EBM and PAM also provide the advantage of increased flexibility of using lower-cost revert materials as feedstock. Currently, EBM is widely used to produce commercially pure (CP) Ti and both EBM and PAM are used to recycle Ti alloy revert materials.
