Experimental and Finite Element Analysis (FEM) of Bioceramics

Abstract

Hydroxyapatite (HAP) displays very excellent biocompatibility in the body and is for the most part used in biomedical applications thanks to well biocompatibility for replacement of bone. In fact, Boron and Ti containing HAP are the bioactive materials and it can incorporate into bone structures, supporting bone in-growth without breaking down or dissolving, and it interacts with the living tissue due to the presence of free calcium and phosphate compounds. Boron containing HAP are also extensively useful for the manufacturing of bio-ceramics in order to improve the physical and chemical properties of biomaterials. Boron nowadays used in HAP applications is a very successful candidate material for bioceramic engineering. Generally, Al2O3 powder is added to HAP powder in order to obtain high fracture toughness. Al2O3 has good mechanical properties as compared with HAP, and exhibits extremely high stability with human tissues. In this paper, the effect of microwave sintering temperature on the relative density, hardness, and phase purity of compacted bovine Hydroxyapatite (BHA) powder was reported. This research is a comprehensive attempt to develop Hydroxyapatite bio composite ceramics reinforced with alumina - Al2O3, pure metallic titanium and pure pulverised boron powders. A Finite Element (FEM) analysis is also used to simulate the macroscopic behaviour of this material, taking into account the relevant microscopic scales. Generally, microwave-sintered samples showed much small grain size and a uniform microstructure. For this reason, the behaviour of bio ceramics in case of rapid heating in microwave was also discussed. Recent results revealed that microwave processing was a promising method for sintering porous bio ceramics thanks to clean and shorter sintering time regarding to conventional sintering methods.