Lascano Farak, Sheila

One of the most important concerns in long-term prostheses is bone resorption as a result of the stress shielding due to stiffness mismatch between bone and implant. The aim of this study was to obtain porous titanium with stiffness values similar to that exhibited by cortical bone. Porous samples of commercial pure titanium grade-4 were obtained by following both loose-sintering processing and space-holder technique with NaCl between 40 and 70% in volume fraction. Both mechanical properties and porosity morphology were assessed. Young's modulus was measured using uniaxial compression testing, as well as ultrasound methodology. Complete characterization and mechanical testing results allowed us to determine some important findings: (i) optimal parameters for both processing routes; (ii) better mechanical response was obtained by using space-holder technique; (iii) pore geometry of loose sintering samples becomes more regular with increasing sintering temperature; in the case of the space-holder technique that trend was observed for decreasing volume fraction; (iv) most reliable Young's modulus measurements were achieved by ultrasound technique.

Titanium and its alloys are reference materials in biomedical applications because of their desirable properties. However, one of the most important concerns in long-term prostheses is bone resorption as a result of the stress-shielding phenomena. Development of porous titanium for implants with a low Young’s modulus has accomplished increasing scientific and technological attention. The aim of this study is to evaluate the viability, industrial implementation and potential technology transfer of different powder-metallurgy techniques to obtain porous titanium with stiffness values similar to that exhibited by cortical bone. Porous samples of commercial pure titanium grade-4 were obtained by following both conventional powder metallurgy (PM) and space-holder technique. The conventional PM frontier (Loose-Sintering) was evaluated. Additionally, the technical feasibility of two different space holders (NH4HCO3 and NaCl) was investigated. The microstructural and mechanical properties were assessed. Furthermore, the mechanical properties of titanium porous structures with porosities of 40% were studied by Finite Element Method (FEM) and compared with the experimental results. Some important findings are: (i) the optimal parameters for processing routes used to obtain low Young’s modulus values, retaining suitable mechanical strength; (ii) better mechanical response was obtained by using NH4HCO3 as space holder; and (iii) Ti matrix hardening when the interconnected porosity was 36–45% of total porosity. Finally, the advantages and limitations of the PM techniques employed, towards an industrial implementation, were discussed.