Aidimme to use Meltio’s wire-based Additive Manufacturing to develop titanium implants
As part of the ATILA research project, Aidimme, a non-profit research centre based in Valencia, Spain, has installed a wire-based Directed Energy Deposition (DED) metal Additive Manufacturing machine from Meltio, Linares, Spain, to develop biomedical titanium implants.
The ATILA research, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, the European Union, and the State Research Agency, will investigate the different uses and applications of biomedical implants using Ti64-ELI wire-based metal Additive Manufacturing, as opposed to more widely used powder-based AM technologies.
Wire-based DED was selected as the studied technology due to the fact it has a lower process contamination rate than powder, a good deposition rate, relatively low cost and high raw material utilisation (close to 100%). When working with powder, it can be reused, but its chemical composition must be controlled and varies after use, it was stated.
Within the framework of the ATILA project, a prototype based on Meltio’s DED technology has been developed and is anticipated to receive final upgrades in 2024. Specifically, the new process is hoped to allow better control of thermal gradients to ensure it meets the demanding standards that apply to Ti6Al4V ELI.
