The influence of manufacturing parameters on properties of Ti-6Al-4V products fabricated by selective laser melting, and their surface coating with bioactive polymer

Technological parameters included in energy density (ED) are the more powerful tools in selective laser melting (SLM) technology which can be used in the time of fabrication to regulate chemical, metallurgical, and mechanical properties of a product. The volumetric Energy Density (ED) depends on the energy input employed by the laser power, scanning speed, hatch spacing, and the layer thickness. Density, microstructure, surface morphology, dimension accuracy, strength and porosity including the number of pores, place of the pore, size of a pore shape of a pore, inclusions of pores of an SLM product depends on the processing parameters. As the powder material fusion process is done by track by track and layer by layer, the architecture of the microstructure in a product is oriented as the direction of building up too. The research has emphasized on metallurgical properties, tensile properties, and producing the non-porous products from Ti-6Al-4V alloy powder and surface modification using bioactive polymer for orthopedic application. The research has followed four steps to study the metallurgical properties and finding out the combinations of technological parameters in producing non-porous products. The purpose of the first step of the study was to examine the effects of ED on the product properties and to obtain an optimum ED as well as the optimal range of scanning speed. The second step of the study has focused on the influences of laser power. The third step of the study has investigated the effect of amounts of track overlapping and hatch spacing. Almost a zero-porosity product has been able to produce by following these three steps of the ongoing research. The fourth step has studied the metallurgical properties emphasizing on re-melting of every layer. High-density products have been found in the fourth step where a small amount of very small sized pores are present as a result of keyhole effect and gaseous bubble entrapment mainly. Four buildup orientations have been selected for each ED in the first step of the study to examine the tensile properties of the products. The best buildup orientation has been seen in longitudinally vertical tensile specimens considering tensile properties. The tensile properties have also been studied in the second and third step of the study with best build up orientation of the tensile specimens. The alterations of metallurgical and tensile properties have also been investigated after heat-treatment of the specific samples. Dimensional accuracies were also invigilated on the cubic, and tensile specimens over the studies and consequently, inaccuracies have been noticed. The fifth step of the study has observed the pore properties, adhesion properties, the compressive strength of gelatin coating manufactured using unidirectional freezing and the freeze-drying process of three different gelatin concentrations on four different surfaced Ti-6Al-4V alloy substrates. The results indicate that the coating properties depend on the substrate’s surface texture as well as the concentration of gelatin. Above 80% of porosity, interconnected and well-aligned pores of 75-200 μm have been obtained which is required to stimulate bone ingrowth histologically.Technological parameters included in energy density (ED) are the more powerful tools in selective laser melting (SLM) technology which can be used in the time of fabrication to regulate chemical, metallurgical, and mechanical properties of a product. The volumetric Energy Density (ED) depends on the energy input employed by the laser power, scanning speed, hatch spacing, and the layer thickness. Density, microstructure, surface morphology, dimension accuracy, strength and porosity including the number of pores, place of the pore, size of a pore shape of a pore, inclusions of pores of an SLM product depends on the processing parameters. As the powder material fusion process is done by track by track and layer by layer, the architecture of the microstructure in a product is oriented as the direction of building up too. The research has emphasized on metallurgical properties, tensile properties, and producing the non-porous products from Ti-6Al-4V alloy powder and surface modification using bioactive polymer for orthopedic application. The research has followed four steps to study the metallurgical properties and finding out the combinations of technological parameters in producing non-porous products. The purpose of the first step of the study was to examine the effects of ED on the product properties and to obtain an optimum ED as well as the optimal range of scanning speed. The second step of the study has focused on the influences of laser power. The third step of the study has investigated the effect of amounts of track overlapping and hatch spacing. Almost a zero-porosity product has been able to produce by following these three steps of the ongoing research. The fourth step has studied the metallurgical properties emphasizing on re-melting of every layer. High-density products have been found in the fourth step where a small amount of very small sized pores are present as a result of keyhole effect and gaseous bubble entrapment mainly. Four buildup orientations have been selected for each ED in the first step of the study to examine the tensile properties of the products. The best buildup orientation has been seen in longitudinally vertical tensile specimens considering tensile properties. The tensile properties have also been studied in the second and third step of the study with best build up orientation of the tensile specimens. The alterations of metallurgical and tensile properties have also been investigated after heat-treatment of the specific samples. Dimensional accuracies were also invigilated on the cubic, and tensile specimens over the studies and consequently, inaccuracies have been noticed. The fifth step of the study has observed the pore properties, adhesion properties, the compressive strength of gelatin coating manufactured using unidirectional freezing and the freeze-drying process of three different gelatin concentrations on four different surfaced Ti-6Al-4V alloy substrates. The results indicate that the coating properties depend on the substrate’s surface texture as well as the concentration of gelatin. Above 80% of porosity, interconnected and well-aligned pores of 75-200 μm have been obtained which is required to stimulate bone ingrowth histologically

Combined effect of build orientation and energy density on density and mechanical properties of selectively laser melted Co-Cr-W-Si

The selective laser melting (SLM) process for manufacturing metals continues to be challenging in terms of achieving the maximum metallurgical properties that the process can provide. There are a variety of manufacturing parameters in the process that have individual characteristics, and when combined with other variables, the characteristics can be varied. However, in this study, the two most important manufacturing parameters, namely build direction and laser power, were considered to investigate their effects on density and tensile properties. Previously, the best scanning speed, hatch spacing, and layer thickness were determined, which directly affect the volumetric energy density in the SLM process. In this study, three different orientations and three different laser powers were selected, namely the X, Y, and Z directions and 55 W, 75 W, and 95 W laser power, respectively. Significant differences in product density were observed for the samples fabricated in the different orientations and with the different laser powers. The specimens fabricated in the Z direction always exhibit higher strength and ductility, which are significantly different from the specimens fabricated in the X and Y directions, while the laser power was 75 W and 95 W, respectivel

Metallurgical and geometric properties controlling of additively manufactured products using artificial intelligence

This article has presented a technical concept for producing precisely desired Additive Manufactured (AM) metallic products using Artificial Intelligence (AI). Due to the stochastic nature of the metallic AM process, which causes a greater variance in product properties compared to traditional manufacturing processes, significant inaccuracies in metallurgical properties, as well as geometry, occur. The physics behind these phenomena are related to the melting process, bonding, cooling rate, shrinkage, support condition, part orientation. However, by controlling these phenomena, a wide range of product features can be achieved using the fabricating parameters. A variety of fabricating parameters are involved in the metal AM process, but an appropriate combination of these parameters for a given material is required to obtain an accurate and desired product. Zero defect product can be achieved by controlling these parameters by implementing Knowledge-Based System (KBS). A suitable combination of manufacturing parameters can be determined using mathematical tools with AI, considering the manufacturing time and cost. The knowledge required to integrate AM manufacturing characteristics and constraints into the design and fabricating process is beyond the capabilities of any single engineer. Concurrent Engineering enables the integration of design and manufacturing to enable trades based not only on product performance, but also on other criteria that are not easily evaluated, such as production capability and support. A decision support system or KBS that can guide manufacturing issues during the preliminary design process would be an invaluable tool for system designers. The main objective of this paper is to clearly describe the metal AM manufacturing process problem and show how to develop a KBS for manufacturing process determination

Finite element analysis of titanium foam in mechanical response for dental application

Metals with certain porosity are a new class of materials with extremely low density and a unique combination of excellent mechanical, thermal, electrical, and biocompatible properties. Absorption of impact and shock energy, dust and fluid filtration, construction materials, and most importantly, biocompatible implants are all potential applications for metallic foams. An orthopaedic implant made of metallic foam can provide an open-cell structure that allows for the ingrowth of new bone tissue and the transport of body fluids. Due to its strong biocompatibility and stable fixation between the implant and human bone, titanium foam has recently received much attention as an implant material. Finite element modelling is a suitable method to obtain an efficiently designed implant. Accurate finite element analyses depend on the precision before implementation as well as the functionality of the material properties employed. Since the mechanical performances of titanium foam and solid titanium are different, a constitutive model for porous metal is required. The model of Deshpande and Fleck in the finite element analysis software ABAQUS is used to describe the compressive and flexural deformation properties of titanium foam with 63.5% porosity. The finite element simulation results were compared with the practical mechanical properties obtained by compression testing of the foam. Finally, the material modelling was used to investigate the stress distributions on the dental implant system

Investigation of the best manufacturing orientation of Co-Cr-W-Si dental prosthetic elements in the selective laser melting process

It is well known that Selective Laser Melting (SLM) does not provide the same mechanical properties in all directions of the part. This is due to the microstructural grain orientation and pore shape in SLM products. Therefore, depending on the direction of the pressure applied to the SLM product, a different manufacturing orientation is required to achieve the best mechanical properties. Changing the microstructural grain orientation is difficult through SLM, but a process to reduce the size and number of the pores can be discovered through different combinations of manufacturing parameters. In prosthodontics, pressure is usually applied in the vertical direction, which leads to compression and bending of crowns with bridges. The compressive load can be easily absorbed in the crowns, but the bending force has a significant effect here. Therefore, a product with high tensile strength and high ductility is needed to survive longer. Considering these requirements, this study determined the best parameters for laser processing by SLM method to reduce porosity and improve mechanical strength and ductility of Co-CrW-Si alloy products. The result is a relative product density of 100% for cubic specimens and a yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, and elongation at break of the tensile specimens of 900 MPa, 1200 MPa, and 15%, respectively, obtained in specimen build-up in the Z direction with a laser power of 60 W and a scanning speed of 450 mm/s. Eventually, the best orientation for the production of dental prosthetic elements using the SLM process was determined

A Holistic Approach to Cooling System Selection and Injection Molding Process Optimization Based on Non-Dominated Sorting

This study applied a holistic approach to the problem of controlling the temperature of critical areas of tools using conformal cooling. The entire injection molding process is evaluated at the tool design stage using four criteria, one from each stage of the process cycle, to produce a tool with effective cooling that enables short cycle times and ensures good product quality. Tool manufacturing time and cost, as well as tool life, are considered in the optimization by introducing a novel tool-efficiency index. The multi-objective optimization is based on numerical simulations. The simulation results show that conformal cooling effectively cools the critical area of the tool and provides the shortest cycle times and the lowest warpage, but this comes with a trade-off in the tool-efficiency index. By using the tool-efficiency index with non-dominated sorting, the number of relevant simulation cases could be reduced to six, which greatly simplifies the decision regarding the choice of cooling system and process parameters. Based on the study, a tool with conformal cooling channels was made, and a coolant inlet temperature of 20 °C and a flow rate of 5 L/min for conformal and 7.5–9.5 L/min for conventional cooling channels were selected for production. The simulation results were validated by experimental measurements

Fine martensite and beta-grain variational effects on mechanical properties of Ti–6Al–4V while laser parameters change in laser powder bed fusion

In this study, several variations of Ti–6Al–4V β-grains and α′-martensites were observed while changing the combinations of laser parameters and keeping the energy density (ED) constant in the laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) process. Several combinations of laser power, scanning speed, and hatch spacing were considered, resulting in high product density between 99.3% and 100.0%. Accordingly, tensile specimens were fabricated to observe the above strategic fabrication and microstructural effects on tensile properties. At the same time, microhardness was also measured to observe the similarities. However, the size and shape of the β-grains differed significantly, while the scanning speed gradually decreased along with the laser power, with the shape changing from irregular to classically hexagonal and the size increasing sharply. Using the results of differential thermal analysis (DTA), it can be said that most of the tertiary and quaternary α′-martensites formed after the following few thermal cycles below 370 °C. Similarly, the α′-particles decomposed and formed β-particles due to thermal treatment at 370 °C. Therefore, a denser and higher number of tertiary and quaternary α′-martensites and a lower number of primary and secondary α′-martensites occurred, while the cooling rate decreased and the number of thermal cycles increased due to a lower scanning speed. These phenomena increased the hardness 370–395 HV and deteriorated the yield strength 1250-840 MPa. Changes in track overlap (hatch spacing) of 30–50% affect mechanical and microstructural characteristics more than track overlap of 10–25%. The columnar β-grains became longer and wider as the lane overlap increased from 30 to 50%. At the same time, some β-grains also changed to contain finer and fewer α′-martensites. These factors reduced both hardness and tensile properties

Results of the tensile test

This spreadsheet contains the results of the tensile test carried out with samples of increased geometric complexity made in Selective Laser Melting with two aluminium alloys, AlSi10Mg and AlCu4TiMg.</p

Results from the Scanning Electron Microscopy

The zip file contains the Scanning Electron Microscopy analysis of the samples made in AlSi10Mg and AlCuTiMg using Selective Laser Sintering with different levels of shape complexity. The analysis provides data on chemical composition and grain structure. </p

Dimensional deviations in Ti-6Al-4V discs produced with different process parameters during selective laser melting

When manufacturing complicated products where both material and design play a role, especially thin and curved components, it is difcult to maintain accurate dimensions in Selective Laser Melting. Considering these difculties, this article presents the dimensional errors in the fabrication of Ti-6Al-4V discs and their thermomechanics during manufacturing. Various combinations of laser processing parameters were used to fabricate the 2.00 mm thick discs with a diameter of 5.70 mm. It was found that the thickness shortened and the round shape changed to an oval shape for most of the discs. The thickness decreased along the build-up direction from the bottom to the top and formed a taper that increased with increasing energy density (ED). The horizontal diameter of the discs changed slightly, while the vertical diameters changed remarkably with increasing ED. On the other hand, reducing the laser power resulted in a reduction of the roundness error, while it caused a reduction of the thickness. The hatch spacing signifcantly afected the volume of the melt pool and caused a change in the vertical diameter. The central part of the curved surface of the discs became concave and the concavity increased due to the increasing ED