Fabrication, Morphology Analysis, and Mechanical Properties of Ti Foams Manufactured Using the Space Holder Method for Bone Substitute Materials

Abstract

Porous titanium (Ti) offers several key attributes as a biomedical material. Among the known characteristics of Ti relevant to biomedical applications, the mechanical performance and effects of a pore structure on the deformation characteristics under compressive loading were examined. The space holder method was employed to generate Ti foams with target porosities of 60%, 70%, and 80%. A micro-computed to mography analysis and light and scanning electron microscopy were performed to examine the pore morphology and microstructure. The mechanical properties along with the elastic modulus and compressive strength were evaluated via uniaxial compression testing. Ti foam samples with three porosity levels displayed average elastic moduli and compressive strengths comparable with those of human cancellous and cortical bone. All the Ti foam samples had elastic moduli similar to those of cancellous bone with their open porous structures. Although the foam samples with similar to 60% porosity had compressive strength comparable to that of cortical bone, the samples with similar to 80% porosity displayed compressive strength similar to that of cancellous bone. The results indicate that Ti foam scaffolds produced using the space holder method have great potential for applications in hard tissue engineering, as their mechanical properties and pore structures are similar to those of bone.