INTERFACE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN POROUS TITANIUM AND TANTALUM COATINGS ON A COBALT-CHROMIUM ALLOY PRODUCED BY SELECTIVE LASER MELTING (SLM)

摘要

Selective laser melting (SLM) is an additive rapid prototyping (RP) technology based on selective laser sintering (SLS). However, whereas SLS utilizes a low-power laser (CO{sub}2, wavelength = 10 mM and power <50W) to sinter the powder particles together, SLM uses a higher power laser (ytterbium fiber/Nd:YAG, wavelength = 1mM and power <200W) to fully melt the powders. Although much of the early work on SLM concentrated on reducing porosity and producing fully dense material, recent works have shown that this technology could be ideal for producing coatings or full components where a controlled or designed-in interconnected porosity is required. This allows the production of bespoke porous coatings or structures where exterior shape, pore size, and relative density are controlled.