Additive manufacturing of titanium alloys via selective laser melting: Fabrication, microstructure, post-processing, performance and prospect

Growing maturity of SLM has enabled the use of rapid manufacturing technology on hard-to-machine Ti alloys. In this review, selective laser melted titanium alloys are reviewed based on the ever-growing database recently. This study aims to systematically collect relevant and up-to-date information from an exhaustive literature on selective laser melted Ti alloys including the detailed elaboration of recent advances on fabrication, post-processing, microstructure characteristics, mechanical and biocompatibility performances, simulation as well as their correlation of Ti alloys for engineering applications manufactured by SLM. By summarizing the state-of-the-art progress of SLM Ti alloys, five future perspectives on challenges and prospects perspectives for SLM Ti alloys are proposed accordingly. This review advances the associated limitations and overcoming attempts, providing a better understanding and future perceptions on the interdependency between different aspects in this field.