1、 Principles and Core Processes of 3D Printing Titanium Alloy Technology

1. Powder bed melting technology

By using selective laser melting (SLM) or electron beam melting (EBM), precise forming of titanium alloy powder is achieved layer by layer through high-energy beam melting, and the size error can be controlled within ± 0.05mm.

DLP photopolymerization technology achieves complex structure molding by combining photosensitive resin with titanium powder, with a shrinkage rate of about 3.5% -4.2%, and requires software compensation to optimize accuracy.

2. Material preparation characteristics

Ti-6Al-4V (TC4) is the most commonly used printing material, which combines high strength and biocompatibility, and is suitable for aerospace applications.

The particle size distribution of the powder is controlled between 15-53 μ m, with a sphericity greater than 95%, to ensure uniform powder spreading and melt density.

2、 Manufacturing advantages and breakthroughs

Complex structure manufacturing: It can form irregular thin-walled parts in one go.

Material utilization rate: saves 40% -60% of raw materials compared to traditional forging processes.

Integrated functional design: supports integrated forming of porous structures.

3、 Core Challenges and Solutions

1. Process defect control

Porosity optimization: By adjusting the layer thickness (20-50 μ m) and optimizing the scanning strategy, the porosity can be reduced to below 0.2%.

Residual stress relief: Adopting gradient annealing process, the stress relief rate reaches over 85%.

2. Post processing technology

The surface roughness can be reduced from Ra 10-15 μ m to Ra 0.8 μ m after sandblasting and polishing.

Adopting hot isostatic pressing (HIP) treatment can increase fatigue life by 3-5 times.

4、 Expansion of application areas

Aerospace: Engine combustion chamber flame tube reduces weight by 40% and adopts biomimetic lattice structure design.

Industrial equipment: The corrosion resistance of special-shaped seals in chemical reactors has been improved by 200%.

5、 Development Trends

Multi material composite printing: titanium ceramic gradient material is used for optimizing the interface of artificial bones.

Manufacturing of large-sized components: Developing 1.2m level multi laser splicing technology to increase molding efficiency by 70%.

Intelligent chemical process chain: AI real-time monitoring of molten pool morphology, with a defect detection accuracy rate of 99.3%.

Summary: The current 3D printing titanium alloy technology has broken through the bottleneck of traditional manufacturing and achieved large-scale applications in complex components, lightweight design, and other fields. In the future, it will further evolve towards high precision, high performance, and intelligence.