Surface Morphology of Selective Laser-Melted Titanium

The surface morphology of biomaterials is one of the most important biocompatibility factors. In this paper, the change in surface morphology of selective laser-melted titanium with process parameters was investigated to control the pore structure and mesh size. First, the process map which shows the relation between the morphology of laser-melted track and the process parameters such as laser power and scan speed was drawn by experiments. The laser-melted layer was fabricated on the basis of the process map. As a result, the surface morphology, especially pore structure and mesh size, of the layer is affected strongly by energy density as well as scan spacing.