Processing and mechanical properties of Biocompatible cancellous titanium

Pure titanium and some of its alloys are currently considered as the most attractive metallic materials for biomedical applications due to their excellent mechanical properties, corrosion resistance, and biocompatibility. It has been demonstrated that titanium and some titanium-based alloys are well accepted by human tissues as compared to other metals such as SUS316L stainless steel and Co-Cr-Mo type alloys. Furthermore, open-cellular metallic foams with a pore size of 200-500 mu m are acknowledged as very promising biomaterial candidates for bone implants because its open-cellular structure permits the ingrowths of new-bone tissues and the transport, of body fluids. In the present study, highly porous titanium foams with a porosity of 80% are produced by using a novel powder metallurgical process, which includes the adding of the selected spacers into the starting powders. The porous titanium foams are characterized by using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Mechanical properties are investigated by compressive tests. These biocompatible porous titanium foams are expected to be used as implants for medical applications due to its porous structure permits the ingrowths of the new-bone tissues and the transport of the body fluids.