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Physical and mechanical characterisation of 3D-printed porous titanium for biomedical applications

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Abstract

The elastic modulus of metallic orthopaedic implants is typically 6–12 times greater than cortical bone, causing stress shielding: over time, bone atrophies through decreased mechanical strain, which can lead to fracture at the implantation site. Introducing pores into an implant will lower the modulus significantly. Three dimensional printing (3DP) is capable of producing parts with dual porosity features: micropores by process (residual pores from binder burnout) and macropores by design via a computer aided design model. Titanium was chosen due to its excellent biocompatibility, superior corrosion resistance, durability, osteointegration capability, relatively low elastic modulus, and high strength to weight ratio. The mechanical and physical properties of 3DP titanium were studied and compared to the properties of bone. The mechanical and physical properties were tailored by varying the binder (polyvinyl alcohol) content and the sintering temperature of the titanium samples. The fabricated titanium samples had a porosity of 32.2–53.4 % and a compressive modulus of 0.86–2.48 GPa, within the range of cancellous bone modulus. Other physical and mechanical properties were investigated including fracture strength, density, fracture toughness, hardness and surface roughness. The correlation between the porous 3DP titanium-bulk modulus ratio and porosity was also quantified.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biomedical Engineering, School of AMME, J07, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    Aouni El-Hajje, Elizabeth C. Kolos & Andrew J. Ruys

  2. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore, 639798, Singapore

    Jun Kit Wang & Cleo Choong

  3. Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology, 71 Nanyang Drive, Singapore, 638075, Singapore

    Saeed Maleksaeedi, Zeming He & Florencia Edith Wiria

Authors
  1. Aouni El-Hajje
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  2. Elizabeth C. Kolos
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  3. Jun Kit Wang
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  4. Saeed Maleksaeedi
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  5. Zeming He
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  6. Florencia Edith Wiria
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  7. Cleo Choong
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  8. Andrew J. Ruys
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Correspondence to Elizabeth C. Kolos.

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El-Hajje, A., Kolos, E.C., Wang, J.K. et al. Physical and mechanical characterisation of 3D-printed porous titanium for biomedical applications. J Mater Sci: Mater Med 25, 2471–2480 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10856-014-5277-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10856-014-5277-2

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