Processing and Characterization of Porous Titanium for Orthopedic Implant Prepared by Argon-atmospheric Sintering and Arc Plasma Sintering

Dhyah Annur,Ika Kartika,Bambang Suharno,Sugeng Supriadi,Fendy Rokhmanto,Yudi Nugraha Thaha,Arbi Dimyati

doi:10.1590/1980-5373-mr-2021-0122

Abstract

Abstract Porous titanium is proposed to be an effective orthopedic implant with a lower elastic modulus and supports osseointegration during implantation. To produce porous titanium, powder metallurgy (PM) assisted with a space-holder is used in this study. Pure titanium is used as the starting material, and salt (NaCl) is used as the space-holder. Argon-atmospheric sintering and arc plasma sintering (APS) methods are applied for the sintering process. NaCl content was varied from 0–40 wt%. The temperature sintering was at 1100 °C for the argon-atmospheric sintering, and the current process was at 75 A for the APS. The formation of pores, total porosity, pore distribution, phase formation, and mechanical properties were examined by the optical microscope, scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and compression testing. Titanium with the addition of 20 wt% of NaCl is shown to be a potential biomaterial for the orthopedic implant, having a porosity of 38–39%, the elastic modulus of 3.2–5 GPa, and the yield strength of 141–150 MPa (argon-atmospheric sintering and APS) which shown to be similar to the properties of cortical bone.

Highlights

Titanium and its alloys are commonly used as orthopedic implant materials as they have high mechanical properties, high corrosion resistance, and biocompatible properties 1
It follows from this study that porous titanium can be prepared by both Argon-atmospheric sintering and arc plasma sintering (APS) process using NaCl as the space-holder
The porosity of the titanium is inversely proportional to the space-holder addition

Summary

Introduction

Titanium and its alloys are commonly used as orthopedic implant materials as they have high mechanical properties, high corrosion resistance, and biocompatible properties 1. Lower elastic modulus titanium[5] and porous structure titanium[6, 7] are proposed to address the stress-shielding phenomenon. The porous structure can increase the osseointegration of the titanium implants by new bone tissue[8]. Porous structure in titanium would have detrimental mechanical properties, compared to the bulk metal to reach the properties of bone. Reduction in elastic modulus is the main purpose so that the distribution pattern of stress can be improved, and as a consequence, implant loosening and bone resorption can be avoided[6].

Methods

Results

Conclusion