9 - Tribology of additively manufactured titanium alloy for medical implant

Abstract

Additive manufacturing is a relatively new manufacturing process that can produce three-dimensional (3D) object simply by building up materials layer by layer just by using 3D digital image of the object to be produced. Laser metal deposition (LMD) process is one of the additive manufacturing technologies that has the capability to produce the custom medical implant directly from the 3D computer aided design model of the implant and produce with the desired surface property in a single manufacturing process. Also, an existing implant can be modified and given the surface with improved wear and corrosion resistance properties with the help of additive manufacturing technology. The uniqueness of laser properties such as the ability to accurately control and deliver large quantity of energy into confined areas and only the needed area helps to achieve this objective. This chapter presents the properties of titanium and titanium alloys, their biomedical applications, the need for surface modification, methods used in surface modification of titanium and its alloys for biomedical applications, and the use of additive manufacturing LMD for surface modification and for improved corrosion and wear resistance properties.