Numerical and experimental study of the Ti6Al4V macrostructure obtained by Nd:YAG laser

Titanium and its alloys (Ti6Al4V) have been widely used in the biomedical field; nevertheless, they should be subject to specific surface treatments, before being implanted, in order to improve bio-integration. Although laser processing is a useful technique for this purpose, different aspects of the basic mechanisms of this process are still in progress, with special emphasis on the modeling structure formation on the irradiated surface. For this research, the finite element method was used to study the generation of a macrostructure on the Ti6Al4V surface using a Nd:YAG laser. The temperature profiles, estimated during the extremely high heating and cooling rates caused by the output power of the laser beam, allowed us to analyze, among other things, the melting depth and the heat affected zone, in order to optimize the process. Moreover, the experimental results (SEM data) were positively compared with the numerical model, and a relationship of the crater profile formation (depth to width ratio) was determined.