Fabrication of scaffolds from Ti6Al4V powders using the computer aided laser method

Abstract

The aim of the research, the results of which are presented in the paper, is to fabricate, by Selective Laser Melting (SLM), a metallic scaffold with Ti6Al4V powder based on a virtual model corresponding to the actual loss of a patient's craniofacial bone. A plaster cast was made for a patient with a palate recess, and the cast was then scanned with a 3D scanner to create a virtual 3D model of a palate recess, according to which a 3D model of a solid implant was created using specialist software. The virtual 3D solid implant model was converted into a 3D porous implant model after designing an individual shape of the unit cell conditioning the size and three-dimensional shape of the scaffold pores by multiplication of unit cells. The data concerning a virtual 3D porous implant model was transferred into a selective laser melting (SLM) device and a metallic scaffold was produced from Ti6Al4V powder with this machine, which was subjected to surface treatment by chemical etching. An object with certain initially adopted assumptions, i.e. shape and geometric dimensions, was finally achieved, which perfectly matches the patient bone recesses. The scaffold created was subjected to micro-and spectroscopic examinations.