Microstructural and Dynamic Mechanical Characterization of Biodegradable Magnesium-Calcium Alloy for Orthopedic Implants

Abstract

Magnesium-Calcium (Mg-Ca) alloy is an emerging metallic biomaterial for manufacturing biodegradable orthopedic implants. However, very few studies have been conducted on mechanical properties of the bi-phase Mg-Ca alloy, especially at the high strain rates often encountered in manufacturing processes. The mechanical properties are critical to design and manufacturing of Mg-Ca implants. The objective of this study is to study the microstructural and mechanical properties of Mg-Ca0.8 (wt %) alloy. Both elastic and plastic behaviors of the Mg-Ca0.8 alloy were characterized at different strains and strain rates in quasi-static tension and compression testing as well as dynamic split-Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) testing. It has been shown that Young’s modulus of Mg-Ca0.8 alloy in quasi-static compression is much higher than those at high strain rates. Yield strength and ultimate strength of the material are very sensitive to strain rates and increase with strain rate in compression. Strain softening also occurs at large strains in dynamic compression. Furthermore, quasi-static mechanical behavior of the material in tension is very different from that in compression. The stress-strain data was repeatable with reasonable accuracy in both deformation modes. In addition, a set of material constants for the internal state variable plasticity model has been obtained to model the dynamical mechanical behavior of the novel metallic biomaterial.