Investigating the performance of tricalcium phosphate bioceramic reinforced with titanium nanoparticles in friction stir welding for coating of orthopedic prostheses application

Abstract

In this paper, the friction stir welding (FSW) process on a biomedical titanium sheet using tricalcium phosphate-titanium nanoparticles (TCP-TiNP) is performed. In this study, mechanical and physical testing such as tensile strength, elastic modulus and physical properties are determined for finite element analysis (FEA). Then, its mechanical properties are predicted and optimized using fuzzy logic mathematical models. Welding parameters and tool geometry have important effects on material flow pattern, heat distribution and ultimately on material structural evolution. The samples are prepared using the various amount of TCP-TiNP in the FSW process. Then, the prepared samples are analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) techniques. For modeling, an explicit dynamic step is used instead of Temp-dynamic explicit in the FEA. In general, it can be concluded that the elastic modulus (E) has increased from 1.34 GPa to 1.78 GPa, which is in agreement with the results of tensile strength as 58.2 MPa–63.5 MPa. In addition, the surface morphology of the samples shows that the surface porosity increases from 32% to about 43%, which is due to the different weight percentages of TCP-TiNP. Due to the increase in porosity and decrease in wettability from 74% to 68%, it can be concluded that the third sample is recommended for bone implant applications.