Enhanced biomechanical performance of additively manufactured Ti-6Al-4V bone plates

Gupta, SK and Shahidsha, N and Bahl, S and Kedaria, D and Singamneni, S and Yarlagadda, PKDV and Suwas, S and Chatterjee, K (2021) Enhanced biomechanical performance of additively manufactured Ti-6Al-4V bone plates. In: Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, 119 .

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Abstract

As the global trauma fixation devices market expands rapidly, it is imperative to improve the production of fixation devices through enhanced design accuracy and fit for best performance and maximum patient comfort. Selective laser melting (SLM) is one of the mature additive manufacturing methods, which provides a viable route for the rapid production of such devices. In this work, the ability of SLM to produce near-net-shape parts, as desired for medical implants, was utilized for the fabrication of bone plates from Ti-6Al-4V alloy powder. Martensitic microstructure obtained after the printing of alloy resulted in poor ductility, limiting its application in the field of orthopedics. A specially designed repeated cyclic heating and cooling close to but below the β-transus was used to transform from acicular to a bimodal microstructure without the need for plastic deformation prior to heat treatment for improving the ductility. Bone plates subjected to this heat treatment were mechanically tested by means of tensile and 3-point bend tests and demonstrated large improvement in ductility, and the values were comparable to those similar plates prepared from wrought alloy. Other important properties required for implants were assessed, such as corrosion resistance in simulated body fluid and cytocompatibility in vitro using MC3T3-E1 cells. These results for the bone plate after heat treatment were excellent and similar to those of the additively manufactured and wrought plates. Taken together, the performance of the additively manufactured bone plates after subjecting to heat treatment was similar to those of bone plate manufactured using wrought alloy. These results have important implications for the fabrication of patient-specific metallic orthopedic devices using SLM without compromising their biomechanical performance by subjecting them to a tailored heat treatment. © 2021 Elsevier Ltd

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials
Publisher:	Elsevier Ltd
Additional Information:	The copyright for this article belongs to Elsevier Ltd
Keywords:	Additives; Biomechanics; Body fluids; Bone; Corrosion resistance; Corrosion resistant alloys; Ductility; Heat treatment; Melting; Metal implants; Microstructure; Patient treatment; Selective laser melting; Ternary alloys; Titanium alloys; Vanadium alloys, Biomechanical performance; Bone plate; Fixation device; Mechanical; Performance; Property; Selective laser melting; Ti-6al-4v; Ti-6Al-4V alloy; Wrought alloys, Aluminum alloys
Department/Centre:	Division of Mechanical Sciences > Materials Engineering (formerly Metallurgy)
Date Deposited:	23 Jul 2021 08:49
Last Modified:	23 Jul 2021 08:49
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/68865

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