Laser Cladding and Laser Direct Glass Deposition of Bioactive Glass and Glass‐Ceramics

This chapter covers the production of bioactive glass-ceramic coatings by laser cladding and the additive fabrication of bioactive glass-ceramics by laser direct glass deposition. The laser cladding technique and the laser direct glass deposition techniques are introduced and their applications in the ceramic biomaterials field are presented. Fundamentals of laser-material interaction and current technology for coating production and additive manufacturing are reviewed. A deep analysis of the requirements of the bioactive glasses and their properties as precursor materials for laser assisted processing is provided, in addition to the explanation of the reported structural and bioactivity changes. Finally, the impact of processing conditions on the mechanical and bioactive properties of the laser additive manufacturing are described.