Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) of commercially pure titanium and alloy development for the LPBF process

Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) of titanium or titanium alloys allows fabrication of geometrically more complex and, possibly, individualized implants or osteosynthesis products and could thus improve the outcome of medical treatments considerably. However, insufficient LPBF process parameters can result in substantial porosity, decreasing mechanical properties and requiring post-treatment. Furthermore, texturized parts with anisotropic properties are usually obtained after LPBF processing, limiting their usage in medical applications. The present study addresses both: first, a design of experiments is used in order to establish a set of optimized process parameters and a process window for LPBF printing of small commercially pure (CP) titanium parts with minimized volume porosity. Afterward, the first results on the development of a biocompatible titanium alloy designed for LPBF processing of medical implants with improved solidification and more isotropic properties are presented on the basis of conventionally melted alloys. This development was performed on the basis of Ti-0.44O-0.5Fe-0.08C-0.4Si-0.1Au, a near-α alloy presented by the authors for medical applications and conventional manufacturing, with yttrium and boron additions as additional growth restriction solutes. In terms of LPBF processing of CP titanium grade 1 powder, a high relative density of approximately 99.9% was obtained in the as-printed state of the volume of a small cubical sample by using optimized laser power, scanning speed, and hatch distance in combination with a rotating scanning pattern. Moreover, tensile specimens processed with these volume settings and tested in the as-printed milled state exhibited a high average yield and ultimate tensile strength of approximately 663 and 747 N/mm², respectively, combined with a high average ductility of approximately 24%. X-ray diffraction results suggest anisotropic mechanical properties, which are, however, less pronounced in terms of the tested specimens. Regarding alloy development, the results show that yttrium additions lead to a considerable microstructure refinement but have to be limited due to the occurrence of a large amount of precipitations and a supposed higher propensity for the formation of long columnar prior β-grains. However, phase/texture and microstructure analyses indicate that Ti-0.44O-0.5Fe-0.08C-0.4Si-0.1Au-0.1B-0.1Y is a promising candidate to achieve lower anisotropy during LPBF processing, but further investigations on LPBF printing and Y₂O₃ formation are necessary.