Preparation of Ti6Al4V Slurry for Digital Light Processing 3D Printing

Ti6Al4V powders have higher light absorption and density, which pose significant challenges for metal light curing. It is necessary to investigate the performance of Ti6Al4V slurries to achieve high‐quality green bodies. To optimize Ti6Al4V slurry for light‐curing printing, the influence of slurry components on the rheological and curing properties of slurry is studied. The viscosity values of slurries are measured under different solid loading, and it is found that the viscosity values of the slurry are proportional to the solids loading. It is found that the curing performance of the slurry with photoinitiators 819 is superior to that of the slurry with diphenyl (2,4,6‐trimethylbenzoyl) phosphine oxide as the photoinitiator 819. The effect of the concentration of dispersant KOS110 on the viscosity of slurry is measured, and the results show that the viscosity of the slurry is increased due to the bridging flocculation of the dispersant KOS110 in the slurry. It is found that green bodies can be printed successfully when the solid loading of Ti6Al4V slurry is 40 vol%, the concentrations of photoinitiator 819 and dispersant KOS110 are 1 and 3 wt%, respectively. The printing parameters are energy density of 336 mJ cm −2 and a model thickness of 20 μm.