Estimating the Life-Cycle of the Medical Implants Made by SLM Titanium-Alloyed Materials Using the Finite Element Method

Abstract

Within this article, there are presented a series of researches that were developed for the first time in Romania, in the field of customized medical implants made by using the Selective Laser Melting (SLM) technology. Finite Element Method (FEM) has been successfully used in order to analyze the fatigue and to determine the durability of a customized medical implant that has been selected for the made analysis. The material characteristics taken into consideration within the Finite Element Analysis (FEA) that has been performed were the ones of two types of dedicated metallic powders which are commercially available (TiAl6Nb7 and TiAl6V4 material) and suitable for the SLM 250 HL equipment from the SLM Solutions GmbH Company from Lubeck, Germany. The Finite Element Analysis made in the case of these two types of SLM titanium alloyed materials, proved that the modified characteristics, such as the yield strength and hardness of the material are significantly influencing the durability of the medical implants made by SLM technology.