On the applicability of selective laser melting on pistons for the oil & gas industry: Fatigue limit and fracture toughness of selective laser melted TI6AL4V

Pistons for reciprocating compressors for industrial applications are often made of specialised materials. These prove to have problems with manufacture due to the high quality and short production times needed in combination with a low production volume per design. Additive manufacturing, specifically selective laser melting, could solve the...

Design and heat treatment of 3D printed spinal cages

Back pain and back instability affect close to 80% of the population at some point during their life. One solution is to insert a spinal cage, which results in spinal fusion, meaning two vertebrae fuse together to create one big vertebra. This study focuses on the investigation of both the processing aspects as the design aspects of producing a...

The effect of post process treatments on biomechanical properties of Ti6Al4V metamaterials and spinal cage implants manufactured by selective laser melting

Selective laser melting (SLM) is an additive manufacturing technique, which is currently on the rise of being used for manufacturing bone implants. Spinal cage, dental and hip implants can for example be manufactured using SLM. Ti6Al4V lattice structures, categorised as metamaterials, can be printed by SLM with mechanical properties close to...