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CC BY 4.0 · Eur J Dent
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1802572
Original Article

Optimizing the Surface Quality of L-PBF Ti6Al4V ELI Alloy via Electropolishing and Its Effect on Corrosion Resistance for Dental Applications

Venus Chatpaiboonwat
1   Department of Prosthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
,
Vorapat Trachoo
2   Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
,
Patcharapit Promoppatum
3   Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok, Thailand
,
Viriyah Chobaomsup
4   Metallurgy and Materials Science Research Institute (MMRI), Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
,
Kanokwan Saengkiettiyut
4   Metallurgy and Materials Science Research Institute (MMRI), Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
,
Viritpon Srimaneepong 
1   Department of Prosthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
,
Kamolporn Wattanasirmkit
1   Department of Prosthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
› Author Affiliations Funding This work was supported by the Health Systems Research Institute grant (Number: 2567211112355) and the National Science, Research and Innovation Fund (NSRF) via the Program Management Unit for Human Resources & Institutional Development, Research and Innovation (B13F660137).
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Abstract

Objectives The Ti6Al4V ELI alloy produced via laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) has attracted interest for use in dental applications. However, surface finishing is an important property that can be managed by various methods. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of electropolishing (EP) on the surface roughness and corrosion resistance of L-PBF Ti6Al4V ELI alloy.

Materials and Methods The present study explored the influence of current density (0.3 A/cm2), voltage (15 V), and distance (2 and 4 cm) on the surface quality of L-PBF-printed Ti6Al4V ELI. The potentiodynamic polarization testing was performed to investigate the corrosion behavior of electropolished Ti6Al4V ELI alloy plates.

Statistical Analysis The data variation was compared at different conditions of EP using a one-way analysis of variance and Tukey's post hoc testing at a significance level of 5%.

Results This study showed that EP significantly reduced the surface roughness and enhanced corrosion resistance of printed Ti6Al4V ELI alloy with the best result achieved by using 15 V and 2 cm of anode–cathode distance.

Conclusion This study indicates that customized EP settings are crucial for optimizing the surface properties of Ti6Al4V ELI for use in dental and biomedical applications. However, the corrosion resistance can be reduced due to increased porosity resulting from the EP treatment.

Keywords

corrosion - electropolishing - laser powder bed fusion - surface roughness - Ti6Al4V

Authors' Contribution

V.C.: Methodology, investigation, formal analysis, data curation, and writing–original draft. V.T.: Validation. P.P.: Resources. V.C.: Validation. K.S.: Methodology, resources, formal analysis, and writing–review and editing. V.S.: Conceptualization, formal analysis, funding acquisition, and writing–review and editing, K.W., Conceptualization, supervision, and writing–review and editing.




Publication History

Article published online:
12 March 2025

© 2025. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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