Distortion and printability of stent structures in laser powder bed fusion processing of NiTi alloys

Self-expandable NiTi stents are extensively used to treat coronary or peripheral arterial disease due to their remarkable biocompatibility and superelasticity. However, the feasibility of fabricating patient-specific NiTi stents through laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) is yet to be determined. Two supposedly optimized energy density values (low and high) were used to investigate the residual stresses evolution and in-process distortion of the …