Preliminary fabrication of thin‐wall structure of Ti6Al4V for dental restoration by electron beam melting

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential application of electron beam melting, as a layered manufacturing process, to fabricate dental coping of metal‐ceramic crown restoration using Ti6Al4V powder.

Design/methodology/approach

This experiment was conducted in two steps: shrinkage study to determine scale up factor for shrinkage compensation and parameter selection study, based on thickness, hardness, and surface roughness, to select process parameter of electron beam melting.

Findings

A promising result of fabricating metal coping of Ti6Al4V via electron beam melting was shown. Ti6Al4V coping was successfully fabricated, with an average thickness of 0.52 mm required for dental coping. Total average hardness of 333.35 HV that is comparable to casted Ti6Al4V with considerably high roughness of RSm of 382 μm.

Originality/value

The paper presents a novel application of electron beam melting to fabricate metal coping for metal‐ceramic crown restoration.

Citation

Syam, W.P., Al‐Shehri, H.A., Al‐Ahmari, A.M., Al‐Wazzan, K.A. and Mannan, M.A. (2012), "Preliminary fabrication of thin‐wall structure of Ti6Al4V for dental restoration by electron beam melting", Rapid Prototyping Journal, Vol. 18 No. 3, pp. 230-240. https://doi.org/10.1108/13552541211218180