In recent years, 3D printing technology has been gradually applied to the manufacture of actual products. Among them, the development of 3D printing technology for metal materials is particularly rapid. In the field of national defense, developed countries in Europe and America attach great importance to the development of 3D printing technology, and devote great sums of money to research. 3D printing metal parts has always been the focus of research and application. The metal powder used in 3D printing usually requires high purity, good sphericity, narrow particle size distribution and low oxygen content. At present, the metal powder materials used in 3D printing are mainly titanium alloy, cobalt chrome alloy, stainless steel and aluminum alloy material, etc. Besides, there are some precious metal powder materials used for printing jewelry, such as gold, silver and so on.

 

Titanium is an important structural metal, titanium alloy has high strength, good corrosion resistance, high heat resistance characteristics have been widely used in the production of aircraft engine and compressor components, rockets, missiles and aircraft of various structures. Cobalt chromium alloy is a kind of high temperature alloy with cobalt and chromium as its main component. Its corrosion resistance and mechanical properties are excellent. The parts made by it are of high strength and high temperature resistance. The titanium alloy and co Cr alloy parts made by 3D printing technology are of high strength, precise size, minimum size of 1mm, and the mechanical properties of parts are better than those of forging.

 

Stainless steel has been widely used because of its resistance to air, steam, water and other weak corrosive medium and acid, alkali, salt and other chemical corrosive medium. Stainless steel powder is a kind of metal powder material with higher cost performance, which is often used in metal 3D printing. The 3D model of stainless steel has a higher strength and is suitable for printing larger size items.

 

With the wide variety of advancements being made in the field of modern technology, just about all facets of life are affected. From casual entertainment to different applications in business and commerce, technological developments have allowed us to enjoy various different services with greater ease and convenience. Among the latest advancement are printers that are capable of reproducing three dimensional objects for use in numerous fields. This has allowed for many breakthroughs to occur in the fields of medicine and mass reproduction, especially considered the materials with which these printers function. Recent developments have allowed for titanium to be utilized as a construction material in the 3D printing process.

 

3D printing titanium is also known as direct metal laser sintering, and it is an additive metal fabrication process that was developed in Germany. This process builds on the basic principles of 3D printing through the application of metallic materials for direct utility in just about any field that would need the uses of such immediately developed technology. So far, the technology has been utilized to create articles of titanium jewelry, as well as mechanical parts for bicycles and other transportation equipment. Currently, the most commonly utilized alloys in the creation process include several different types of stainless steel, as well as cobalt chromium and titanium. However, because of the immediate application of the printing process, just about any type of alloy can be theoretically utilized once it has been developed and validated.

 

The creation process makes use of a 3D computer model that is uploaded to the printing machine’s software. Usually a technician will have to work with the model on the computer first in order to properly arrange its geometry so that it can be constructed and supported physically as it should be. After the file itself has been finalized and all of the necessary changes have been done to the final draft, the structure in the file is divided into separate layers that are then downloaded to the machine that performs the actual construction operation. This machine is known as the DMLS machine, and it uses a powerful optic laser to perform the construction. The laser fires inside of a special building chamber, and in this chamber, a special platform dispenses the building material over a recoating blade, ensuring that the layer is materialized before the blade moves onward to the next layer. This technology fuses the titanium powder into a solid form through the use of local melting by the focus of the laser beam. Layer by layer, the machine builds the object, usually at twenty micrometers of material utilized per layer. This process can easily allow for very complicated geometric figures to be created from the image. The machine handles all of the work after the technician designs the image, and the process is fully automated, taking just a few hours without any other tooling. The DMLS process is very accurate and can result in detailed objects that possess excellent surface quality and durable properties.

 

Any manufacturer that will need to utilize complex parts ranging from small to medium size will benefit from the utility of 3D printing titanium. It can be an especially cost and time effective technology for testing materials, reducing the strain on resources while making sure that the appropriate objects are constructed into the size and shape as desired. Though the technology can be very easily utilized by professional technicians, it is still not without its flaws. Currently, aspects such as size, surface finish, and feature details, are difficult to work with as the printing technology is not yet advanced enough to effectively smooth over these features. Printing through errors in the Z axis may also factor into problems that may arise from the use of this technology. As such, it is crucial for professional to plan ahead before building, and because most of the features are built in the x and y axis during the laying down process of the material, the features can usually be managed effectively. After the construction of certain materials, their surfaces may need to be polished down in order to achieve smoother or even mirror like finishes.

 

Numerous additional considerations will need to be made in order to effectively utilize this manufacturing process in production tooling. The material density should always be taken into consideration, especially in injection molding inserts, where any surface imperfections will often cause problems in the actual products that are made from the molds. Temperatures and surface textures may also cause problems, and these aspects should be taken into consideration before finalizing any products. The production time may be slower when post processing is done, but it may be necessary in order to increase the scale of accuracy. Another problem may occur during the conversion process for more rapid prototyping machines, as the initial file format will need to be properly converted to work with the machine’s specifications. Despite these drawbacks, however, 3D printing titanium has allowed for numerous different industries to benefit from more accurate and more cost effective parts and goods. As further developments are made in this field, more alloy and size options will allow for numerous other different uses of the technology.

 

In the past few years, 3D printing has caught the public’s imagination. However, like a magician’s hat, it has been limited to producing curios with little utility like plastic skulls with intricate patterns. Recently, 3D printing took a giant stride: the industry can now additively manufacture 3D objects from titanium. A metal valued for it high strength to weight ratio, titanium 3D printing could open new horizons in several industries.

 

Traditionally, 3D printing has relied on two technologies: stereolithography (SLA) in which a UV laser acts on a photopolymer to create the object layer by layer, and Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) in which a high power laser fuses the material in cross-sections outlined in the CAD file. Both these technologies work with simpler materials like plastic, ceramic, or glass and are obsolete when faced with a working material as strong as titanium.

 

3D printing with titanium has been made possible by a technology new to the digital manufacturing industry, called the Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS). First, a computer aided design (CAD) of the part to be manufactured is created and fed to the machine. The laser acts on a homogenous and dense titanium powder that melts to create complex structures.  Titanium 3D printers can attain precision and complexity in design that traditional CNC lathe machines are not capable of achieving. The machine operates in an inert gas (argon) environment. Different titanium 3D printers have different specifications but most of them build objects with a 30 micron layer thickness, allowing a minimum wall thickness of 0.3-0.4mm in the design. Some printers making titanium objects also use a technology called Electronic Beam Transfer (EBM) which is similar to DMLS but uses a beam of electrons in place of the laser.

 

To be considered as a viable manufacturing option, a titanium 3D printer should offer value that goes beyond the current hype surrounding 3D printing. These printers pass this test with flying colors. Here is why 3D printing titanium parts is better than producing them using other manufacturing methods.

 

1 Greater Complexity and Resolution in Design: DMLS with titanium powder allows greater liberties with the CAD design. This includes deep groves, cooling channels in injection mold, cavities, undercuts and free form surfaces. The minimum wall thickness in DMLS using titanium is 0.3-0.4 mm, allowing incredibly detailed designs to be implemented. The produced parts can also be surface finished in a variety of ways.

 

the current hype surrounding 3D printing. These printers pass this test with flying colors. Here is why 3D printing titanium parts is better than producing them using other manufacturing methods:1 Greater Complexity and Resolution in Design: DMLS with titanium powder allows greater liberties with the CAD design. This includes deep groves, cooling channels in injection mold, cavities, undercuts and free form surfaces. The minimum wall thickness in DMLS using titanium is 0.3-0.4 mm, allowing incredibly detailed designs to be implemented. The produced parts can also be surface finished in a variety of ways.

 

2. Excellent Mechanical Properties: Titanium is a strong metal to start with. DMLS does an excellent job of preserving this strength during the manufacturing process. Instead of manufacturing multiple smaller parts before and joining them later, DMLS fuses every parts with the whole structure just as the laser creates it.

 

3. Accuracy in Production: Each part produced confirms to its sanctioned prototype. Typical achievable part accuracy is around +/- 50 microns.

 

4. Quick Turnaround Time: Depending on the size, parts can be produced in anywhere between a few hours to a few days. This ensures smooth production of the final product with any bottlenecks where final production is halted by availability of parts.

 

5. Re-design is Easier: If a part is re-designed, creating the newly tooled part is easy because only the CAD machine drawing of the part needs to be replaced. As such re-designing an existing part doesn’t bear a significant impact on the lead time.

 

Revolution in Titanium Powders for 3D Printing.

 

tanium has high strength to density ratio, and is corrosion resistant. It is biocompatible and has good bioadhesion and is hence useful in surgical implants. Titanium is also expensive; in 2002, titanium cost 17,000 per tonne as compared to carbon steel’s humble 550 per tonne. Traditionally, manufacturers have incurred significant losses by the titanium wasted during manufacturing. Titanium 3D printers rule these out by reducing wastage to a minimum.

 

3D printed titanium parts have witnessed great success in the medical industry as well. A Chinese farmer’s damaged skull was restored with a 3D printed titanium mesh by the collaboration of Stryker, a medical tech firm and the Xijing hospital. Prosthetic cranial implants 3D printed in Trabecular Titanium have been successfully implanted in a patient in Argentina.  Other applications include custom titanium shoes for a race horse in Australia. Hugo Arcier, an artist has created sculptures using 3D printing and displayed them in an exhibition called Dogma. Empire, a bike manufacturer tied up with additive manufacturing firm, Reinshaw to create a 3D printed titanium bike that has been subject of much talk.

 

Recent Applications of Titanium 3D Printing

 

3D printed titanium parts have been most enthusiastically received in the aviation industry. General Electric (GE) estimates that printed parts could bring down an aircraft’s weight by 1,000 pounds. GE is already printing fuel nozzles for its new CFM LEAP engines instead of welding each part from 18 smaller parts, as it did before. Airbus Group and EOS have designed 3D printed nacelle hinges in titanium that save 40% more fuel than their traditionally manufactured counterparts.

 

3D printed titanium parts have witnessed great success in the medical industry as well. A Chinese farmer’s damaged skull was restored with a 3D printed titanium mesh by the collaboration of Stryker, a medical tech firm and the Xijing hospital. Prosthetic cranial implants 3D printed in Trabecular Titanium have been successfully implanted in a patient in Argentina.  Other applications include custom titanium shoes for a race horse in Australia. Hugo Arcier, an artist has created sculptures using 3D printing and displayed them in an exhibition called Dogma. Empire, a bike manufacturer tied up with additive manufacturing firm, Reinshaw to create a 3D printed titanium bike that has been subject of much talk.

 

3D printed titanium parts have witnessed great success in the medical industry as well. A Chinese farmer’s damaged skull was restored with a 3D printed titanium mesh by the collaboration of Stryker, a medical tech firm and the Xijing hospital. Prosthetic cranial implants 3D printed in Trabecular Titanium have been successfully implanted in a patient in Argentina.  Other applications include custom titanium shoes for a race horse in Australia. Hugo Arcier, an artist has created sculptures using 3D printing and displayed them in an exhibition called Dogma. Empire, a bike manufacturer tied up with additive manufacturing firm, Reinshaw to create a 3D printed titanium bike that has been subject of much talk.

 

Titanium 3D printers are quickly expanding into a profitable manufacturing niche. However, the industry has a few challenges to overcome. The first is bringing down the cost of titanium powder. The second is stopping titanium dust produced during printing from blocking small channels. Nevertheless, the industry can set its sights on conquering manufacturing drawbacks that inhibited use of titanium parts in a number of applications.

 

In recent years, innovations achieved through 3D printing while utilizing titanium powder in the field of healthcare are amazing. For decades the health care industry could only imagine that additive manufacturing would become a tool for researchers in the medical field. These advances are evolving faster; moreover, titanium powder is enabling new and interesting ideas and fantastic new innovations.

 

the most common 3D printing materials are plastic and nylon. Able to be melted down and remolded, plastic works well in the world of 3D printing, and the same goes for metal. You heard right: 3D printers have made it possible to "print" with metals like titanium, steel, aluminum, and even heavier, more expensive metals like copper and gold.

 

The orthopedic department of Peking University recently announced new developments. Doctors undertook orthopedic clinical trials in 3D printing to produce artificial vertebral parts. Of course, this type of prosthesis has already been printed in 3D, but this is the first time they have been implanted in a patient.

 

The lucky recipient of this artificial vertebra is a 12-year-old boy named Minghao, and the young patient is the first person in the world to have a vertebral implant of this type. After a neck injury, incurred during a football match, a cancerous tumor was discovered on the second cervical vertebra of the boy, located in the spinal cord. There was an urgent need to remove it to prevent the cancer from spreading.

 

The standard protocol is normally to replace the vertebrae with a hollow titanium tube, but the patient can no longer lay his head down for 3 months, and must be provided with pins to stabilize everything. By using titanium powder to reproduce the vertebrae, the recovery time is significantly reduced compared to traditional techniques.

 

The 3D printing complimented with titanium powder has helped design a vertebra that perfectly fits Minghaos’ small frame, and this new vertebrae has the advantage of being perfectly adjusted to the adjacent bone, and does not need to be secured with screws. The titanium implants also exhibit a very low rate of adverse reactions of the immune system.

 

The results so far are very promising, and the Director of the Department of Orthopedics, Liu Zhongjun, has expressed optimism for using 3D organ printing and implants in the future.

 

The equipment that is used to print the implants is really nothing new, but the metal titanium powder used for the creation of implants opens up the door of possibilities. What is new is how 3D printing is used to design and form prostheses. Rather than relying on square shapes that are easier to produce, the ability of the 3D printer to create highly complex geometries reduces the amount of additional hardware needed to build a generic implant that allows individuals to become mobile.  Another advantage is the porous nature of the printed implant that allows bone to grow into the implant and create a natural bond.

 

At one time, the 3D printing technology seemed to have lost its novelty, but the introduction of this metal powder has ignited a boom for commercial industries, especially medical, automotive, art and lifestyle investors who see the potential in this technology. It’s really a matter of how inventive and creative you can become because armed with a 3D printer and titanium powder, you can produce just about anything.