Cobalt-Chromium-Molybdenum alloy, which is simply referred to as Cobalt-Chrome, is used in the dental sector. It is a derivative of the ISO 5832 alloy, or ASTM F75, that has its historical origins as a Stellite alloy, and which was originally developed as a casting alloy for orthopedic implant use. The dental alloy, however, differs from the implant Cobalt-Chrome alloy since it is nickel (Ni) free and has tungsten (W) added to a much higher content. Moreover, the current use of this dental alloy in metal AM LPBF is controlled under license by the patent owners. The dental alloy has very good strength (>1300 MPa after stress relieving), biocompatibility, and is readily coated with enamel without issue. Coupling the ability to make accurate customer specific abutments, crowns, and bridges, through precision metal AM techniques has led to this alloys huge success and popularity.

A more generic medical implant version of this alloy has found uses in other industry sectors, the most common of which is aerospace and the Oil & Gas, because of its similarity to the Stellite 21 alloy. Alloy compositions with higher carbon contents are likely to be slightly better where wear resistance is required, but this alloy exhibits moderately good tensile strength (>1100 MPa) with high toughness, ductility (elongation 18-20%), good corrosion resistance, and works well at high temperature. As with most AM metals, the final properties can be tailored to specific requirements through careful selection of heat treatments cycles.

This information is excerpted from a Renishaw paper, The status quo of metal alloys for additive manufacturing.