Direct Laser Forming for More Complex Shaped Titanium Alloy Compacts

Abstract

Titanium and its alloys have been widely used for various industrial and medical applications because of their excellent characteristics of low density, high corrosion resistance and high biocompatibility. However, it is not easy to produce the complicated shape and precise components with low cost because of their poor workability. Therefore, Direct Laser Forming (DLF) is hoped to be a suitable and advanced powder processing technique. In this paper, DLF technique has been introduced to fabricate more complex shaped Ti-6Al-4V and Ti-6Al-7Nb alloy parts for aerospace and medical applications. The effects of DLF parameters on the morphology of compacts are investigated respectively by fabricating specimens, which have the typical features in the vertical plane, the horizontal plane and 3D coordinate. Eventually, not only the complex shape but also the excellent properties as same as the wrought material were achieved.