Explore Titanium Alloy 3D Printing

3D printing technology can make this expensive metal more efficiently with lower raw material consumption and less scrap. As a rapid prototyping technology, metal 3D printing typically uses only the amount of material needed to make the part, and relatively little support structure.

3D printing also enables complex designs such as internal channels, hollow or lattice-filled parts to reduce weight, which are not possible with any other manufacturing method. Because no molds or tools are required, titanium 3D printing technology can cost-effectively create one-of-a-kind parts such as patient-specific implants, prototypes, and research tools.

3D printed titanium has numerous applications in manufacturing, healthcare, space exploration and other fields. Let's take a look at why titanium is so suitable for additive manufacturing and its current applications.

3D printing can create very thin-walled, intricate titanium parts, which is why it is used to make watch cases, such as the Panerai and Holthinrichs watches pictured here, which are rumored to be part of the Apple Watch Ultra.

In 2023, smartphone manufacturer Honor launched a new folding phone Magic V2, which uses a 3D printed titanium alloy hinge cover, which is lighter and 150% stronger than the previous aluminum alloy version. The company claims that this small piece of titanium metal can be printed into tens of thousands of titanium metal sheets through 3D printing technology, which is also the key to the product's long-lasting and smooth folding and unfolding.

In the medical industry, 3D printed titanium implants have been successfully used in spine, hip, knee and limb joints due to the biocompatibility and good mechanical properties of the metal itself, coupled with the ability of 3D printing to customize the porous structure ( Achieve osseointegration) and mass customization, thereby bringing better treatment results to patients.

3D printed titanium implants are gaining increasing regulatory approval and demand. Since most medical implants are made for a large group of people with the same condition, they are not suitable for everyone. People with rare diseases are often excluded. Now, with 3D printing technology, it is possible to produce implants designed specifically for individual patients.

In 2023, a surgeon in the United Kingdom performed four wrist surgeries on the same day, using patient-specific 3D printed titanium plates to correct a previously broken wrist bone deformity. "Once this planning process is completed," said Dr Akshay Malhotra, consultant orthopedic surgeon and clinical lead for hand and wrist surgery at University Hospitals of North Midlands, Custom-made plates are printed using titanium powder, then tested, shipped to the UK and sterilized at the county hospital in preparation for surgery.