Titanium and its alloys are widely used in aerospace, marine engineering, medical device, and other fields due to their high specific strength and good corrosion resistance and so on. Compared with traditional manufacturing technology, selective laser melting (SLM), which has many advantages such as high manufacturing precision, is a promising method. It can be seen from the calculation formula of volume energy density ( \({\text{VED}}\, = \,P/\left( {vht} \right)\) ) that the volume energy density has a great influence on SLMed titanium alloys. Research shows that the main factors affecting SLMed titanium alloys are laser power, scanning speed, hatch spacing, layer thickness and scanning strategy. This work presents a comprehensive review of the effects of volume energy density (VED) on the microstructure, manufacturing quality, and mechanical properties of titanium alloys deposited by SLM, focusing on a series of changes caused by changes in VED caused by changes in laser power and scanning speed. By investigating the changes of various types of SLMed titanium alloys under the changes of VED, we found the best coupling method of laser power and scanning speed—that is, under the VED with lower scanning speed and moderate laser power coupling, the samples have refined microstructure, high manufacturing quality, and superior mechanical properties. Finally, current limitations in research of SLMed titanium alloys are summarized, and the future development directions are prospected.
