Abstract
Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) is an
additive manufacturing technique that produces parts
layer by layer directly from the Computer Aided Design
(CAD) file. Highly customized parts with complex shapes
such as medical implants can well be manufactured
using the LMD process. LMD has been used to produce
a wide range of patient specific (customized) parts.
Porous parts are of particular importance as medical
implants because they can potentially aid the healing
process and proper integration of the implant with the
body tissues. In this research porous samples of titanium
alloy (Ti6Al4V) were produced using the LMD process.
Spherical shaped Ti6Al4V powder of particle size
ranging between 150 to 200 μm was used. The effect of
laser power and scanning speed on the shape, size and
degree of porosity of the deposited tracks was
investigated. The results showed that as the laser power
was increased and the scanning speed decreased, the
degree of porosity was reduced. The size of the porosity
was also found to reduce as the laser power was
increased.