Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Porous Titanium Based on Controlling Young's Modulus

Abstract The Young's modulus of implant plays an important role in reducing stress shielding. A new method called titanium mesh stacked-forced-sintering (TMSS) was applied to porous titanium, which could easily control Young's modulus and balance the mechanical properties by different porosities, pore sizes and pore distribution. The results indicate that porous titanium has different structures in different directions. It has regular macro-pores in the cross section and irregular micro-pores in the longitudinal section. The stress-strain curve of porous titanium shows smooth and stable increase at plastic deformation along the axis direction. The Young's modulus obviously decreases, when increasing the porosity, decreasing nominal pore size, or changing pore distribution from regular to staggered at the same porosity. So the Young's modulus of porous titanium can be adjusted by these architecture factors to match the different bone tissues, and the appropriate pore sizes have the potential to induce bone tissue ingrowth. The match of mechanical properties and appropriate structures can effectively promote the fixation between the implant and the bone tissue in a long term.