Direct laser deposited titanium with controlled porosity for bone tissue engineering

The potential of engineered porous materials for aiding the osseointegration of metallic dental and orthopedic implants is well established. A range of techniques, such as powder metallurgy, plasma-spraying and titanium fiber meshing have been tried to produce the implant structures with control on porosity and other pertinent characteristics. In the present work, direct laser deposition of pure titanium powder (particle size: -100/+63 microns) was carried out to form porous structure. A 1 kW fiber laser, integrated with lateral powder feed nozzle and workstation, was used at different primary process parameters (laser power, powder mass flow rate, transverse speed, hatch parameter) to fabricate a number of multi-layer structures. The relevant structural parameters of these fabricated structures were studied as a function of the process parameters using various techniques. The result of these studies are presented.