POWDER SINTERING AND CHARACTERIZATION OF BIOMEDICAL POROUS TiNb ALLOY

Porous titanium alloys have attracted considerable attention in the field of hard tissue implants owing to the biocompatibility and low Young's modulus. Porous Ti-49Nb alloy was prepared by powder metallurgy approach from pure TiH2 and Nb powders. NH4HCO3 powders were used as space holder. The relationships between mechanical property, corrosion behavior and porous structure of the sintered porous Ti-49Nb alloys were investigated. Pore size, porosity, morphology and interconnectivity can be altered by the adding amount of space holder. Furthermore, the tailored Young's modulus and compressive strength decrease significantly with the increasing porosity. Corrosion potential decreases whereas corrosion current density increases with the increasing porosity. Pore size, Young's modulus and compressive strength of porous Ti-49Nb alloy with porosity of 38.9 similar to 60.2% meet the porous structure and mechanical properties requirements of porous biomaterials, suggesting it is an appropriate implant candidate for cancellous bone.