Ta physical printing process optimization

Tantalum (Ta) is known as a "biophile" metal, with excellent bioinertness and biocompatibility. Pure tantalum has been used in orthopedic medicine for more than 80 years. At present, powder bed electron beam 3D printing is the most competitive technology for forming refractory tantalum metal, especially for pure porous tantalum implants. However, refractory metal materials usually have some disadvantages, such as excessive dependence on vacuum environment in the forming process, sensitivity to the introduction of raw material impurity elements, narrow processing window, and easy to produce defects in the 3D printing process.

The instability of the molten pool leads to the formation of melt spheres and the spherification phenomenon, which makes it more difficult to spread powder evenly in the next layer, and eventually leads to the generation of defects and failure. Based on the early experience of Ta development, the production technology department optimized the process of Ta, aiming at the problem that the spherification phenomenon of large area solid printing is prone to cause printing failure, and the current effect is relatively ideal. (The Production Technology Department of Guangzhou Sailong/Lin Huixian)