Studies on Porous Titanium Alloy Implant Manufactured by Three Dimensional Solid Freeform Fabrication System

Abstract

Titanium (Ti) alloys have emerged to become valuable biomaterials for biomedical and orthopedic applications due to their high strength to weight ratio, excellent biocompatibility and corrosion resistance. In this study, the authors utilized Solid Freeform Fabrication (SFF), also commonly known as a rapid prototyping technology to investigate a new porous three-dimensional (3D) Ti alloy implant. Elemental powders for producing a Ti-Al-Fe-Zr alloy were mechanically alloyed and blended with water soluble binder material. The blended powders were manufactured by Three Dimensional Printer (3DP), followed by debinding and sintering in an inert environment. The effects of process parameters on structural and geometrical requirements were assessed. Results from these investigations demonstrated that Ti alloys are promising biomaterials for near net shape fabrication of porous 3D implants, which retained their interconnected pore network. As an illustration, complex geometries of porous 3D Ti alloy specimens were manufactured as a demonstration of 3D SFF System.