Microstructure of near-infrared pulsed laser sintered titanium samples

The microstructure and material properties of near-infrared pulsed laser sintered titanium have been investigated. Several analyses of the selectively laser sintered titanium powder, using characterisation techniques such as compressive strength, microhardness, energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis, X-ray diffractometry and scanning electron microscopy analysis, allowed the metallurgical description of the sintering process. Only partial melting in a narrow surface layer took place, whereas most of the material stayed clearly below the melting temperature.