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

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 usingmore » 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.« less

Authors:

Gupta, Saurabh Kumar  ^[1];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Gupta, Saurabh Kumar"
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-5657-8245"

Shahidsha, Nagur  ^[1];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Shahidsha, Nagur"
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0001-7672-1515"

Bahl, Sumit ^[1]; Kedaria, Dhaval  ^[1];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Kedaria, Dhaval"
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-8388-2015"

Singamneni, Sarat ^[2]; Yarlagadda, Prasad K.D.V. ^[3]; Suwas, Satyam ^[1]; Chatterjee, Kaushik  ^[1]

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Chatterjee, Kaushik"
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-7204-2926"

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (India)
2. Auckland University of Technology, Auckland (New Zealand)
3. Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane (Australia)

Publication Date:

Fri Apr 23 00:00:00 EDT 2021

Research Org.:

Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE; Department of Biotechnology (DBT), India; VAJRA program of the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), India; University Grants Commission of India

OSTI Identifier:

1823325

Grant/Contract Number:  

AC05-00OR22725

Resource Type:

Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:

Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Volume: 119; Journal ID: ISSN 1751-6161

Publisher:

Elsevier

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; Bone plate; Ti-6Al-4V alloy; Selective laser melting; Microstructure; Mechanical properties; Heat treatment