title: Revival of pure titanium for dynamically loaded porous implants using additive manufacturing.
abstract: Additive manufacturing techniques are getting more and more established as reliable methods for producing porous metal implants thanks to the almost full geometrical and mechanical control of the designed porous biomaterial. Today, Ti6Al4V ELI is still the most widely used material for porous implants, and none or little interest goes to pure titanium for use in orthopedic or load-bearing implants. Given the special mechanical behavior of cellular structures and the material properties inherent to the additive manufacturing of metals, the aim of this study is to investigate the properties of selective laser melted pure unalloyed titanium porous structures. Therefore, the static and dynamic compressive properties of pure titanium structures are determined and compared to previously reported results for identical structures made from Ti6Al4V ELI and tantalum. The results show that porous Ti6Al4V ELI still remains the strongest material for statically loaded applications, whereas pure titanium has a mechanical behavior similar to tantalum and is the material of choice for cyclically loaded porous implants. These findings are considered to be important for future implant developments since it announces a potential revival of the use of pure titanium for additively manufactured porous implants.
authors.affiliation: KU Leuven, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Section Production Engineering, Machine Design and Automation (PMA), Celestijnenlaan 300B, 3001 Leuven, Belgium; 3D Systems - LayerWise NV, Grauwmeer 14, 3001 Leuven, Belgium. Electronic address: ruben.wauthle@3dsystems.com.
authors.forename: Ruben
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wauthle
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime, and Materials Engineering, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), Mekelweg 2, 2628 CD, Delft, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Seyed Mohammad
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Ahmadi
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime, and Materials Engineering, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), Mekelweg 2, 2628 CD, Delft, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Saber
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Amin Yavari
authors.affiliation: KU Leuven, Department of Orthopaedics, Weligerveld 1, 3212 Pellenberg, Belgium.
authors.forename: Michiel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mulier
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime, and Materials Engineering, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), Mekelweg 2, 2628 CD, Delft, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Amir Abbas
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Zadpoor
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime, and Materials Engineering, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), Mekelweg 2, 2628 CD, Delft, The Netherlands; Department of Orthopedics & department of Rheumatology, UMC Utrecht, Heidelberglaan 100, 3584 CX, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Harrie
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Weinans
authors.affiliation: KU Leuven, Department of Materials Engineering, Kasteelpark Arenberg 44, PB 2450, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Van Humbeeck
authors.affiliation: KU Leuven, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Section Production Engineering, Machine Design and Automation (PMA), Celestijnenlaan 300B, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jean-Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Kruth
authors.affiliation: KU Leuven, Department of Materials Engineering, Kasteelpark Arenberg 44, PB 2450, 3001 Leuven, Belgium; KU Leuven, Prometheus, Division of Skeletal Tissue Engineering, PB 813, O&N1, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schrooten
mesh_terms: D000497:Alloys; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry; D019245:Compressive Strength; D007834:Lasers; D008422:Materials Testing; D016062:Porosity; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D013499:Surface Properties; D013635:Tantalum / Q000737:chemistry; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry*; D016474:Weight-Bearing
chemical_list: D000497:Alloys; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; C031462:titanium alloy (TiAl6V4); D013635:Tantalum; D014025:Titanium
keywords: Additive manufacturing; Fatigue; Porous biomaterials; Selective laser melting; Titanium