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Selective laser melting: lessons from medical devices industry and other applications

Iván La Fé-Perdomo (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Departamento de Ingeniería Mecánica y Metalúrgica, Av. Vicuña Mackenna, Santiago, Chile and Study Centre on Advanced and Sustainable Manufacturing, University of Matanzas, Matanzas, Cuba)
Jorge Andres Ramos-Grez (Department of Mechanical and Metallurgical Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Santiago, Chile)
Gerardo Beruvides (Department of Social Innovation Business, Hitachi High-Technologies Europe GmbH, Krefeld, Germany)
Rafael Alberto Mujica (Department of Mechanical and Metallurgical Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Santiago, Chile)

Rapid Prototyping Journal

ISSN: 1355-2546

Article publication date: 23 August 2021

Issue publication date: 18 November 2021

620

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to outline some key aspects such as material systems used, phenomenological and statistical process modeling, techniques applied to monitor the process and optimization approaches reported. All these need to be taken into account for the ongoing development of the SLM technique, particularly in health care applications. The outcomes from this review allow not only to summarize the main features of the process but also to collect a considerable amount of investigation effort so far achieved by the researcher community.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper reviews four significant areas of the selective laser melting (SLM) process of metallic systems within the scope of medical devices as follows: established and novel materials used, process modeling, process tracking and quality evaluation, and finally, the attempts for optimizing some process features such as surface roughness, porosity and mechanical properties. All the consulted literature has been highly detailed and discussed to understand the current and existing research gaps.

Findings

With this review, there is a prevailing need for further investigation on copper alloys, particularly when conformal cooling, antibacterial and antiviral properties are sought after. Moreover, artificial intelligence techniques for modeling and optimizing the SLM process parameters are still at a poor application level in this field. Furthermore, plenty of research work needs to be done to improve the existent online monitoring techniques.

Research limitations/implications

This review is limited only to the materials, models, monitoring methods, and optimization approaches reported on the SLM process for metallic systems, particularly those found in the health care arena.

Practical implications

SLM is a widely used metal additive manufacturing process due to the possibility of elaborating complex and customized tridimensional parts or components. It is corroborated that SLM produces minimal amounts of waste and enables optimal designs that allow considerable environmental advantages and promotes sustainability.

Social implications

The key perspectives about the applications of novel materials in the field of medicine are proposed.

Originality/value

The investigations about SLM contain an increasing amount of knowledge, motivated by the growing interest of the scientific community in this relatively young manufacturing process. This study can be seen as a compilation of relevant researches and findings in the field of the metal printing process.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors are highly grateful to the ANID PFCHA/DOCTORADO NACIONAL/2019–21190520 and ANID FONDECYT Project N° 1201068 for all the financial support.

Citation

Fé-Perdomo, I.L., Ramos-Grez, J.A., Beruvides, G. and Mujica, R.A. (2021), "Selective laser melting: lessons from medical devices industry and other applications", Rapid Prototyping Journal, Vol. 27 No. 10, pp. 1801-1830. https://doi.org/10.1108/RPJ-07-2020-0151

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited

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