The history and current status of additive manufacturing for the aerospace titanium industry is reviewed. The build efficiency

dimension capability

component complexity

buy-to-fly ratio

and surface quality of 5 additive manufacturing methods based on direct energy deposition and powder bed fusion are compared. Also

the effect of powder bed fusion technology on designing lightweight structure and low-cost manufacturing process is discussed. Taking Ti-6Al-4V as an example

how the physical processes inside melt pool affects the formation of columnar grains and mechanical anisotropy is investigated. Some results of process monitoring and quality control

as well as the current standard for material

processing

and detection are presented. Finally

the cost breakdown and model are introduced to explain the component features that are suitable for additive manufacturing. The future direction of aerospace additive manufacturing for titanium alloys is discussed.