A Study on the Shape and Dimensional Accuracy of Additively Manufactured Titanium Lattice Structures for Orthopedic Purposes

Abstract

The deviation between the designed lattice structures and the 3D-printed ones has been studied in this research. Three types of lattice structures were designed using the SpaceClaim application in the ANSYS software and then fabricated using Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) via EOS M 290 3D printer. Considering the orthopedic application, Ti6Al4V alloy of grade 23 was selected as a material for all samples of the structures. A thorough comparison was done on the volume, mass, and porosity to effectively map the possible deviations between the designed and the printed version. The shape accuracy of the 3D printing process was discussed during the study. As the complexity of the shape of the unit cell increases, the accuracy of the printing process becomes lower. Dimensional accuracy in the XY plane is higher than accuracy in the Z plane. Simple unit cell shape was proven to be more accurate in the 3D printing process.