Atmospheric gas mixture promises improved titanium printing

The introduction of the novel gas mixture follows results from a joint development program between Linde and 3D Medlab – part of the Marle Group - to improve quality and productivity of advanced thin medical devices made from Ti64.

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The study - undertaken between January 2020 and March 2021 – is said to have investigated the effect of the new process gas on spatter formation and process stability during laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) of Ti64 lattice structures and their resulting properties.

According to Linde, process monitoring with optical tomography showed that spatter emission was significantly reduced when working with argon-helium mixtures compared to argon alone. Research results confirmed that Linde’s argon-helium gas mixture decreases spatter emissions by 35 per cent, which reduces the risk of manufacturing defective parts and improves overall surface quality.

“The ability to print reliably repeatable products is key to improving product qualification, which is crucial for the medical industry”, said Sophie Dubiez-Le Goff, expert Powder Metallurgy for Additive Manufacturing, Linde. “Additionally, from a commercial perspective, printing time is the greatest single cost element in additive manufacturing, but this can be speeded up for thin parts by using just the right atmospheric gas mixture.”