Laser powder bed fusion of Ti6Al4V-xCu: Process parameters

Abstract

The original intent of coating biomedical and surgical devices surface with antibacterial agents is to prevent infections. However, the difference in the material properties between the biomedical devices and the coating materials causes the coating material to spall from the biomedical devices. To address the situation, the current research focused on investigating the possibility of using laser powder bed fusion process a subset of additive manufacturing technology to in situ alloy 1 at% Cu with Ti6Al4V. In situ alloying 1 at% Cu with Ti6Al4V would lead to the production of medical and surgical devices with inbuilt antibacterial property. To determine the optimum process parameters that could be used to manufacture the Ti6Al4V- 1 at% Cu alloy, single tracks were produced over a wide range of laser powers and scanning speeds and analyzed. Process parameters of 170 W, 1.0 ms-1 and hatch distance of 80 µm were identified as the possible optimum process parameters for manufacturing the Ti6Al4V- 1 at% Cu alloy. Rescanning was identified as a good strategy to improve the surface roughness, homogeneity and surface concentration of the Cu in the Ti6Al4V- 1 at% Cu alloy matrix.