Experimental study of printing conditions for a NiTi alloy obtained by SLM technique

The widespread adoption of additive manufacturing (AM) techniques in biomedical device production, especially with shape memory materials like NiTi alloys, is well-established due to their unique properties. However, traditional manufacturing techniques face limitations when working with thesealloys, prompting high interest in AM research, with a special focus on the Selective Laser Melting (SLM) technique. In this study, a comprehensive analysis of the printing conditions for NiTi alloys depositions through the SLM technique was conducted. With the support of a previously explored analytical approach, experimental trials were designed to investigate the printability of the NiTi alloy. NiTi samples were produced using an SLM machine with a maximum laser power of 500 W, operating in continuous mode (also called pulsed), and with two different layer thicknesses, i.e. 30 mu m and 60 mu m. Experimental analyses, including optical and electron microscopy were carried out to assess the microstructural characteristics of the printed samples. Our findings enabled a preliminary exploration of the material's printability.