Processing of a metastable titanium alloy (Ti-5553) by selective laser melting

Material densities above 99.93% were achieved by optimisation of energy input during selective laser melting process. However, the use of reference fraction (10-63 μm) allowed the highest material density. Regarding to surface quality, an impact of coarse grain (53-63 μm) was identified and an optimised grain size distribution derived. An optimum averaged surface roughness could be calculated, using a grain size between 25-32 μm.