Static Compressive Behavior and Material Failure Mechanism of Trabecular Tantalum Scaffolds Fabricated by Laser Powder Bed Fusion-based Additive Manufacturing

Jingzhou Yang^1,2,3†*, Hairui Gao^1†, Dachen Zhang^2,3†, Xia Jin^1,4*, Faqiang Zhang¹, Shupei Zhang^2,3, Haishen Chen^2,3, Xiaopeng Li^5*

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¹ School of Mechanical and Automobile Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao, Shandong, P.R. China

² Shenzhen Dazhou Medical Technology Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, Guangdong, P.R. China

³ Center of Biomedical Materials 3D Printing, National Engineering Laboratory for Polymer Complex Structure Additive Manufacturing, Baoding, Hebei, P.R. China

⁴ Key Lab of Industrial Fluid Energy Conservation and Pollution Control, Ministry of Education, Qingdao, Shandong, P.R. China

⁵ School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW, Australia

†These authors contributed equally to this work.

IJB 2022, 8(1), 438 https://doi.org/10.18063/ijb.v8i1.438

Received: 26 August 2021 | Accepted: 22 September 2021 | Published online: 29 October 2021

© 2021 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )

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Abstract

Additively manufactured trabecular tantalum (Ta) scaffolds are promising bone repair materials for load-bearing applications due to their good pore interconnectivity. However, a thorough mechanical behavior evaluation is required before conducting animal studies and clinical research using these scaffolds. In this study, we revealed the compressive mechanical behavior and material failure mechanism of trabecular tantalum scaffolds by compression testing, finite element analysis (FEA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Trabecular tantalum scaffolds with porosities of 65%, 75%, and 85% were fabricated by laser powder bed fusion-based additive manufacturing. Porosity has a significant effect on their compressive mechanical properties. As the porosity decreased from 85% to 65%, the compressive yield strength and elastic modulus increased from 11.9 MPa to 35.7 MPa and 1.1 GPa to 3.0 GPa, respectively. Compression testing results indicate that trabecular tantalum scaffolds demonstrate ductile deformation and excellent mechanical reliability. No macroscopic cracks were found when they were subjected to strain up to 50%. SEM observations showed that material failure results from tantalum strut deformation and fracture. Most microcracks occurred at conjunctions, whereas few of them appear on the struts. FEA-generated compressive stress distribution and material deformation were consistent with experimental results. Stress concentrates at strut conjunctions and vertical struts, where fractures occur during compression testing, indicating that the load-bearing capability of trabecular tantalum scaffolds can be enhanced by strengthening strut conjunctions and vertical struts. Therefore, additively manufactured trabecular tantalum scaffolds can be used in bone tissue reconstruction applications.

Keywords

Tantalum scaffold

Additive manufacturing

Bone repair

Compressive behavior

Finite element analysis

Material failure

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