Fatigue properties of titanium alloy custom short stems fabricated by electron beam melting

Abstract

The fatigue properties of titanium alloy short-stems with four different lengths, manufactured by electron beam melting (EBM) technology, were investigated by in vitro test and finite element (FE) analysis. FE simulation results indicate that the maximum tensile stress concentrates at the lateral side of the stem body. The magnitude of the concentrated tensile stress increases and the corresponding area of the axial section decreases with increasing of stem length. Results from fatigue tests demonstrate that fatigue cracks mainly initiate from the rough surface of the stem where the maximum tensile stress concentrates. The fatigue strength decreases with the increase of stem length, which is attributed to the higher stress concentration on the longer stem surface. In addition, it is found that post EBM treatment via hot isostatic processing (HIP) is able to enhance the fatigue properties of the stems, since the pores generated during EBM are mostly closed during HIP. Our work also demonstrates that the stress concentration on the stem surface can be effectively mitigated and the corresponding fatigue properties of the EBM-fabricated titanium alloy short stem can be considerably improved by optimizing the design in the stem length.