Close Menu
AM ChronicleAM Chronicle
  • Content
    • News
    • Insights
    • Case Studies
    • AM Infocast
  • Focus Regions
    • India
    • Asia Pacific
    • Middle East
    • North America
    • Europe
  • Industries
    • Automotive
    • Aerospace
    • Defence
    • Energy
    • Construction
    • Healthcare
    • Tooling
    • Engineering
  • Training
  • Magazine
    • Digital Issues
    • Print Subscription
  • Events
Facebook Instagram YouTube LinkedIn
  • About us
  • Media Kit
  • Contact us
Facebook Instagram YouTube LinkedIn
AM ChronicleAM Chronicle
  • Content
    1. News
    2. Insights
    3. Case Studies
    4. AM Infocast
    5. View All
    World's tallest 3D-printed tower unveiled in Switzerland, Photo by Birdviewpicture

    World’s Tallest 3D-Printed Tower Constructed at Swiss Alps

    May 22, 2025
    Altair Supports MAM4HP Project to Advance Additive Manufacturing in Italy

    Altair Supports MAM4HP Project to Advance Additive Manufacturing in Italy

    May 20, 2025
    The new standard in 3D concrete printing: Saint-Gobain Weber certified by Kiwa!

    The new standard in 3D concrete printing: Saint-Gobain Weber certified by Kiwa!

    May 20, 2025
    Image credit: Philips

    Philips Unveils 3D-Printable Components for Product Repair, Promoting Sustainability

    May 19, 2025
    Credits: Outokumpu

    Outokumpu launches stainless steel metal powder in additive manufacturing for aerospace and aviation industry applications

    May 22, 2025
    Why Bioprinting Innovations can elevate healthcare and industrial AM

    Why Bioprinting Innovations can elevate healthcare and industrial AM

    May 21, 2025
    Why Additive Manufacturing Excels in Some Applications but Fails in Others?

    Why Additive Manufacturing Excels in Some Applications but Fails in Others?

    May 21, 2025
    Source: CEAD

    CEAD Set to Launch 3D-Printed Boat Manufacturing Facility

    May 19, 2025
    Formlabs fuse 1+

    How Imaginarium Helped Kaash Studio Scale with the Right 3D Printing Technology

    April 12, 2025
    The Formlabs Fuse 1+ 30W

    Kaash Studio Optimized Service Bureau Operations with Formlabs 3D Printers- Case Study

    January 30, 2025
    Namthaja Unveils Worlds First 3D Printed Marine Gangway

    Worlds First 3D Printed Marine Gangway unveiled by Namthaja

    August 8, 2024
    RusselSmith Material Performance Improvement Whitepaper

    RusselSmith Whitepaper : Improving Material Performance with Microstructural Refinement

    May 9, 2024
    Sustainable Production of Metal Powder for Additive Manufacturing

    Sustainable Production of Metal Powder for Additive Manufacturing with Bruce Bradshaw

    February 15, 2024
    Meeting Evolving Customer Demands in the Additive Manufacturing Industry with Tyler Reid

    Meeting Evolving Customer Demands in the Additive Manufacturing Industry with Tyler Reid

    February 9, 2024
    Innovation is at the heart of AMUG with Diana Kalisz

    Innovation is at the heart of AMUG with Diana Kalisz

    March 7, 2023
    3D Printing Workshops at AMUG with Edward Graham

    3D Printing Workshops at AMUG with Edward Graham

    March 7, 2023
    Credits: Outokumpu

    Outokumpu launches stainless steel metal powder in additive manufacturing for aerospace and aviation industry applications

    May 22, 2025
    World's tallest 3D-printed tower unveiled in Switzerland, Photo by Birdviewpicture

    World’s Tallest 3D-Printed Tower Constructed at Swiss Alps

    May 22, 2025
    Why Bioprinting Innovations can elevate healthcare and industrial AM

    Why Bioprinting Innovations can elevate healthcare and industrial AM

    May 21, 2025
    Why Additive Manufacturing Excels in Some Applications but Fails in Others?

    Why Additive Manufacturing Excels in Some Applications but Fails in Others?

    May 21, 2025
  • Focus Regions
    • India
    • Asia Pacific
    • Middle East
    • North America
    • Europe
  • Industries
    • Automotive
    • Aerospace
    • Defence
    • Energy
    • Construction
    • Healthcare
    • Tooling
    • Engineering
  • Training
  • Magazine
    • Digital Issues
    • Print Subscription
  • Events
Subscribe
AM ChronicleAM Chronicle
Home » Insights

Heat Treatment to Improve Patient-Specific Implants Manufactured Using Metal AM

Insights By Dr. Satyam Suwas, Kaushik Chatterjee, Saurabh Kumar Gupta and Satya Vamsi KrishnaJanuary 16, 20234 Mins Read
3D printing Implants for Atrophic Jaws1
LinkedIn Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Pinterest Email Copy Link

The article discuses about innovative heat treatment used by researchers at IISC to transform martensitic microstructure of Ti-6Al-4V into a bimodal microstructure. The manufacturing method was SLM followed by innovative heat treatment. The results indicated improvement in ductility and performance comparable to conventionally manufactured medical devices.

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a layer-by-layer fabrication process in which thin layers are deposited over a substrate progressively to build a three-dimensional (3D) object. Metal AM processes are grouped into two categories based on ASTM standards:  powder bed fusion and directed energy deposition. Laser powder bed fusion/ selective laser melting (SLM) has emerged as a mature technology with the availability of manufacturing units from several suppliers. The fabrication of dense parts necessitates optimization of the processing parameters, such as laser power, laser speed, hatch spacing, powder layer thickness, etc. Our research group at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is actively working on additive manufacturing of several metallic biomaterials, including SLM of popular biomedical alloys such as Ti-6Al-4V, SS316, and Co-26Cr-8Mo, and wire arc additive manufacturing of Zn, which is recognized as an emerging class of resorbable metallic biomaterials.

The team have extensively studied the effect of processing parameters on fabricated alloys by characterizing the porosity, residual stress, mechanical behavior, and crystallographic texture. It is well known in the AM community that additively manufactured parts must be subject to stress relieving treatment for the release of residual stress to minimize warping of the fabricated components after wire cutting. Another critical challenge associated with several fabricated components, particularly of Ti6Al4V, is their mechanical performance. This limitation arises because the microstructure of the additively manufactured part is different from its cast and wrought counterparts. The cooling rate in AM is very high as compared to conventional arc melting resulting in altered microstructures. This difference has motivated researchers globally to work towards optimized heat treatments and surface engineering strategies for the parts produced by AM to alter bulk and surface microstructure for enhanced performance. This article describes our activities on AM Ti-6Al-4V and its successful clinical translation.

In the research work conducted by IISc, the team fabricated near-net-shape bone plates by SLM of Ti-6Al-4V powder. The resultant parts exhibited martensitic microstructure, which results in poor ductility, thereby limiting the application for components. To address this challenge, an innovative heat treatment based on repeated heating and cooling below but close to the β-transus was applied to bone plates after fabrication. This heat treatment resulted in the transformation of the martensitic microstructure into a bimodal microstructure. three-point bend test and tensile test performed on the heat-treated plates revealed a large improvement in ductility, and the results were comparable to plates that were conventionally manufactured from wrought alloy. The design of the bone plate used in the study and its mechanical behavior is shown in Fig.1. The corrosion behavior and cytocompatibility of all the plates were similar. Thus, this heat treatment enables us to additively manufacture Ti6Al4V orthopedic parts to achieve biomechanical performance comparable to conventionally manufactured medical devices.

Metal AM printed bone plate
Figure 1 a) A simple design of additively manufactured bone plate used in the study, b) Plate after milling, c) Stress-strain behavior during tensile testing, d) Bending behavior during 3-point bend test; AM: Additively manufactured, HT: Heat treated plate, WR: Plate manufactured using wrought Ti-6Al-4V

This technology is now being applied for the treatment of malunions of the arm. In collaboration with orthopedic surgeons at the Sanjay Gandhi Institute Of Trauma and Orthopaedics, our group at IISc is designing and fabricating patient-specific bone plates for defects in the distal humerus, radius, and ulna bones, followed by heat treatment prior to implantation. A patient with above mentioned clinical deformity was treated with additively manufactured Ti-6Al-4V alloy, as shown in Fig.2. The use of these additively manufactured implants results in reduced surgery time and nearly full restoration of the functionality in the upper limb of the patient post-surgery in contrast to the conventional mass-produced implants, as assessed by the surgeon. Malunions are common in India, where patients receive inadequate healthcare resulting in loss of hand function. The emergence of additive manufacturing can, thus, open new avenues for improved healthcare through patient-specific implants leading to a better quality of life for the patients.

Patient specific metal AM bone plate
Figure 2 Case study depicting the treatment of a patient with a patient-specific additively manufactured bone plate.

Authors 

Saurabh Kumar Gupta1*, Satya Vamsi Krishna2, Satyam Suwas1, Kaushik Chatterjee1
1Department of Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
1Sanjay Gandhi Institute Of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Bangalore, India

* For more information: [email protected]

Subscribe to AM Chronicle Newsletter to stay connected:  https://bit.ly/3fBZ1mP 

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3IjhrFq 

Visit for more interesting content on additive manufacturing: https://amchronicle.com

3d printing 3D Printing in Healthcare Bone plates Healthcare Metal AM Orthopedic devices Selective Laser Melting Ti-6Al-4V alloy
Dr. Satyam Suwas, Kaushik Chatterjee, Saurabh Kumar Gupta and Satya Vamsi Krishna

LATEST FROM AM
Credits: Outokumpu Insights

Outokumpu launches stainless steel metal powder in additive manufacturing for aerospace and aviation industry applications

May 22, 20252 Mins Read
World's tallest 3D-printed tower unveiled in Switzerland, Photo by Birdviewpicture News

World’s Tallest 3D-Printed Tower Constructed at Swiss Alps

May 22, 20254 Mins Read
Why Bioprinting Innovations can elevate healthcare and industrial AM Insights

Why Bioprinting Innovations can elevate healthcare and industrial AM

May 21, 20255 Mins Read

CONNECT WITH US

  • 126 A, Dhuruwadi, A. V. Nagvekar Marg, Prabhadevi, Mumbai 400025
  • [email protected]
  • +91 022 24306319
Facebook Instagram YouTube LinkedIn

Newsletter

Subscribe to the AM Chronicle mailer to receive latest tech updates and insights from global industry experts.

SUBSCRIBE NOW

Quick Links

  • News
  • Insights
  • Case Studies
  • AM Training
  • AM Infocast
  • AM Magazine
  • Events

Media

  • Advertise with us
  • Sponsored Articles
  • Media Kit

Events

  • AM Conclave 2025
    24-25 September 2025 | ADNEC, Abu Dhabi
  • AMTECH 2025
    3-4 December 2025 | KTPO, Whitefield, Bengaluru
CNT Expositions & Services LLP
© 2025 CNT Expositions & Services LLP.
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.



0 / 75