It is usually applied to manufacture the models in the fields of the mold manufacturing and the industrial design and then is used in some products producing gradually. Some spare parts has been already produced by this technology. This technology has been used in jewelry, shoes, industrial design, architecture engineering and construction(AEC), automobile, aerospace, dental and medical industries, education, geographic information system, civil engineering, guns and so on.
With the continuous development of technology, the manufacturing industry continually ushers in the innovation waves. The titanium alloy material gets much attention because of its high strength, low density, good corrosion resistance, and good biocompatibility. It is widely used in the fields of aerospace, medical devices etc. The titanium alloy 3D printing technology is bringing the profound reform to the manufacturing industry as a leading technology.
The advantages of titanium alloy material in 3D printing
1.High specific strength
The density of titanium alloys is only 60% of steel. The strength of pure titanium is close to that of common steel. Some high strength titanium alloys surpass the strength of many structural alloy steels. Therefore, the specific strength of titanium alloys(strength/density) is much greater than that of other metal materials, so this material can be used to manufacture high unit strength, good rigidity, light weight parts. At present, aircraft engine components, skeletons, skin, fasteners and landing gears are all made of titanium alloy.
2.High heat intensity
The operating temperature of titanium alloy is several hundred degrees higher than that of aluminum alloy. It can work in 450℃～500℃ for a long time. The working temperature of aluminum alloy is below 200℃.
3.Good corrosion resistance
The titanium alloy can work in the medium of the humid atmosphere and seawater. Its corrosion resistance is much better than the stainless steel and it is particularly strong in the resistance to corrosive pitting, acid corrosion and stress corrosion.
4.Low temperature performance
Titanium alloy can maintain its mechanical properties in the low temperature. For example, TA7 can maintain a certain degree of plasticity in -253℃. It also is an important low temperature structural material.
The application of titanium alloys in 3D printing
1.Aerospace
In aerospace industry, the titanium based additive manufacturing parts have been used for commercial and military purposes by far. Titanium alloy 3D printing technology provides solutions of lightweight and high strength spare parts manufacturing for aerospace field.
2.Medical devices
In the medical field, Titanium alloy 3D printing technology is widely used in the bone implants, alveolar implants and so on. Now the special designed implants for individual patient have been manufactured by 3D printing. Its highly personalized characteristic makes the medical devices fit for individual differences in patients well.
3.Automobile manufacturing
By using titanium alloy 3D printing technology, the automobile field accelerates the research and development of new cars, manufactures the lightweight structure and improves the fuel efficiency. At the same time, this technology has been used to maintain and customize the auto parts.
4.Energy field
Titanium alloy 3D printing technology is able to manufacture key parts of high efficient energy equipment such as gas turbine blades, wind energy equipment and so on.
Future trend and prospect
As an advanced manufacturing technology, a collection of design and manufacture, titanium 3D printing technology attracts extensive attention of all walks of life and shows its broad application prospect in the sophisticated fields of aerospace, national defence and military, biomedicine, automobile and high-speed rail. However, it starts relatively late compared with the traditional technology. Its history of development is only about 30 years which is far behind other world advanced countries. For example, the forming efficiency of titanium alloy parts is low, the accuracy can't get a high level of precision, the cost of equipment and materials is high and the problems of the industrial and commercial application in large scale are unrealized, especially the defect suppression of forming parts. At present, the defects still exist in the process of parts forming in our country. The research of spheroidal, crack, pore, warping deformation etc is at the preliminary stage. A lot of research is urgently needed.
- In the aspect of material, it is needed to research and develop the manufacture equipment and producing techniques of new spherical titanium alloy powder, improve the quality of titanium alloy powder (particle size, sphericity, fluidity, inclusion of gas, etc) and further improve the the structure and mechanical properties of parts. Besides, it will reduce the cost by improve the powder yield and the powder recycling and reusing.
- In the aspect of equipment, on one hand, enhancing the forming efficiency, forming accuracy of the equipment and reduce the cost etc; on the other hand, researching and developing the large industrial grade printing equipment to realize the mass production and application.
- In the test aspect, with the development trend of 3D printing to the direction of large scale, complexity and precision, many traditional nondestructive testing methods have the blind zone, so there is a need to develop the new nondestructive testing methods; online test technology of monitoring the structure and defects in real time is one of the key points in the future; besides, it is the broad application basis of 3D printing technology to establish and improve non-destructive testing standards.
- In the techniques aspect, further optimizing the process of 3D printing technology, suppressing the defects in forming process and improving the mechanical properties of formed parts. The key problems of the evolution law of internal stress , deformation and cracking behavior, and the mechanism of defects in the forming process, still need to be studied in the future.