About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2026 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Additive Manufacturing and Innovative Feedstock Processing for Multifunctional Materials
|
| Presentation Title |
Atomised NiTiTa From Elemental Powders for Additive Manufacturing of Biomedical Components |
| Author(s) |
Londiwe Portia Motibane, Donald Mkhonto, Thorsten Becker, Lerato Tshabalala |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Londiwe Portia Motibane |
| Abstract Scope |
Readily available feedstock for additive manufacturing (AM) is in high demand as the technology advances and finds more applications worldwide. Therefore, the field of designing advanced alloys tailored for AM requires powder feedstocks engineered for printability and application-specific performance. Nitinol (NiTi) is a shape-memory alloy that is biocompatible, super-elastic, and exhibits the shape-memory effect; however, its functional window remains narrow for next-generation implants. NiTiTa powder was atomised on the Amazemet rePowder platform. To accommodate the disparate melting points and suppress elemental evaporation, two alloying strategies are considered and discussed. Cast-rod microstructures, powder morphology and chemical composition were characterised by SEM-EDS. Differential scanning calorimetry revealed a tailored martensitic transformation range suitable for physiological conditions. XRD confirmed predominant B2 and B19′ phases with minor Ta peaks. The findings confirm the feasibility of producing homogeneous, AM-ready NiTiTa powders, providing the foundation for forthcoming laser powder bed fusion trials aimed at patient-specific biomedical devices. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Additive Manufacturing, Powder Materials, Other |