Electron Beam Melting with Titanium Alloy for Orthopaedic Applications

Ti-6Al-4V是一种常用的高规格金属合金，具有高比强度、耐腐蚀性和良好的生物相容性。这些特性的组合使其在颌面和肌肉骨骼植入物的医疗行业中需求很高，其中需要承受重复载荷对产品功能至关重要。然而，疲劳强度会受到产品中发现的孔隙率的不利影响。该项目将分析与电子束熔化粉末床增材制造工艺相关的变量，并将这些变量与孔隙率联系起来。目的是建立关于孔隙来源的知识，这些知识可以在质量体系中实施，以避免产生孔隙，允许在批次之间产生可重复的特性，建立高性能功能植入物的标准化过程。

Ti-6Al-4V is a commonly used high specification metal alloy due to its high specific strength, corrosion resistance and good biocompatibility. This combination of properties makes it high in demand in the medical industry for maxillofacial and musculoskeletal implants, where the need to withstand repeated loading is essential for product function.However, the fatigue strength is detrimentally affected by porosity found within products. This project will analyse variables associated with the Electron Beam Melting powder bed additive manufacture process and relate these to porosity. The aim is to establish knowledge on the sources of porosity which can be implemented within a quality system to avoid the creation of porosity, allowing the creation of repeatable properties from batch to batch, establishing a standardised process for high performance functional implants.