Effect of hatching distance on surface morphology and surface roughness of the TI6AL4V for biomedical implant using SLM process

Abstract

Sintering Laser Melting is recently used for manufacturing industry to produce biomedical parts. The design properties that affected the topography of porous titanium for a biomedical implant that closely suit to human cortical bone fabricated via additive manufacturing is still limited. The aim of this work was to study the effect of hatching distance on the morphology and surface microscopy of Ti6Al4V using sintering laser melting (SLM). The square cube with the dimension of 10x10x10 mm fabricated at three different levels (0.11, 0.12 and 0.13 mm) of hatching distances. Here, the volumetric energy density parameter, including scanning speed, thickness layer, and laser power were fixed. The result showed that the surface morphology of the parts, consisting of balling effect and microcrack, had the most significant effect on microstructure. In addition, the average roughness on the side surfaces are 4.4 µm and 4.8 µm respectively, which is well suit for the bone-implant application in biomedical product.