Enhancing Fatigue Performance of Additively Manufactured Ti6Al4V – The Role of Surface Characteristics and Post-Processing Techniques

Geometrically complex objects are more and more often produced with the help of the so-called additive manufacturing commonly referred to as 3D printing. This technology proves itself to be effective in the field of medical industry due to processing potential of titanium alloys. Nonetheless 3D printing also has its drawbacks, the most severe being high roughness of printed elements’ area as well as the need to remove support structures created following the printing. Mechanical processing is commonly used for said parameters being enhanced. The completion of that process, however, takes a lot of time and prevents hard-to-reach elements from being reached. The task of this article is to provide a new method of firming the print’s surface and removing load-bearing structures. To achieve this, selective laser melting (SLM) technology will be used along with bathing prints in HF/HNO3 solution, all of which are supported by ultrasound.