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Production of Ti-6Al-4V acetabular shell using selective laser melting: possible limitations in fabrication

journal contribution
posted on 2017-01-01, 00:00 authored by Amirmahyar Khorasani, Ian GibsonIan Gibson, Moshe Goldberg, Guy Littlefair
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to improve the manufacturing of a prosthetic acetabular shell by analyzing the main factors leading to failure during the selective laser melting (SLM) additive manufacturing (AM) process. Design/methodology/approach - Different computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing processes have been applied to fabricate acetabular parts. Then, various investigations into surface quality, mechanical properties and microstructure have been carried out to scrutinize the possible limitations in fabrication. Findings - Geometrical measurements showed 1.59 and 0.27 per cent differences between the designed and manufactured prototypes for inside and outside diameter, respectively. However, resulting studies showed that unstable surfaces, cracks, an interruption in powder delivery and low surface quality were the main problems that occurred during this process. These results indicate that SLM is an accurate and promising method for production of intricate shapes, provided that the appropriate settings of production conditions are considered to minimize possible limitations. Originality/value - The contributions of this paper are discussions covering different issues in the AM fabrication of acetabular shells to improve the mechanical properties, quality and durability of the produced parts.

History

Journal

Rapid prototyping journal

Volume

23

Issue

1

Pagination

110 - 121

Publisher

Emerald Group Publishing

Location

Bingley, Eng.

ISSN

1355-2546

Language

eng

Publication classification

C Journal article; C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2017, Emerald Group Publishing