Estimating the Life-Cycle of the Medical Implants Made by SLM Titanium-Alloyed Materials Using the Finite Element Method

Abstract:

Within this article, there are presented a series of researches that were developed for the first time in Romania, in the field of customized medical implants made by using the Selective Laser Melting (SLM) technology. Finite Element Method (FEM) has been successfully used in order to analyze the fatigue and to determine the durability of a customized medical implant that has been selected for the made analysis. The material characteristics taken into consideration within the Finite Element Analysis (FEA) that has been performed were the ones of two types of dedicated metallic powders which are commercially available (TiAl6Nb7 and TiAl6V4 material) and suitable for the SLM 250 HL equipment from the SLM Solutions GmbH Company from Lubeck, Germany. The Finite Element Analysis made in the case of these two types of SLM titanium alloyed materials, proved that the modified characteristics, such as the yield strength and hardness of the material are significantly influencing the durability of the medical implants made by SLM technology.

• Periodical: Applied Mechanics and Materials (Volume 371)
• Pages: 478-482
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.371.478
• Online since: August 2013
• Authors: Razvan Păcurar, Ancuţa Păcurar, Nicolae Bâlc, Anna Petrilak, Ladislav Morovič
• Keywords: Additive Manufacturing (AM), Finite Element Analysis (FEA), Medical Implants, Selective Laser Melting (SLM), Titanium Alloy

References

[1] B. Vandenbroucke, J.P. Kruth, Selective laser melting of biocompatible metals for rapid manufacturing of medical parts, Rapid Prototyping Journal. 13 (2007) 196-203.

DOI: 10.1108/13552540710776142

[2] L. G. Harris, L. Mead, E. Muller-Oberlander, R.G. Richards Bacteria and cell cytocompatibility studies on coated medical grade titanium surfaces, Journal of Biomedicine and Material Resources. 78 (1) (2006) 50-58.

DOI: 10.1002/jbm.a.30611

[3] P. Heinl, L. Muller, C. Korner, R.F. Singer, F.A. Muller, Cellular Ti–6Al–4V structures with interconnected macro porosity for bone implants fabricated by selective electron beam melting, Acta Biomaterials. 4 (2008) 1536–1544.

DOI: 10.1016/j.actbio.2008.03.013

[4] T. Sercombe, N. Jones, R. Day, A. Kop, Heat treatment of Ti-6Al-7Nb components produced by selective laser melting, Rapid Prototyping Journal. 14 (5) 2008 300-304.

DOI: 10.1108/13552540810907974

[5] M. Benedetti, V. Fontanari, The effect of bi-modal and lamellar microstructures of Ti-6Al-4V on the behaviour of fatigue cracks emanating from edge notches, Fatigue and Fracture of Engineering Materials and Structures. 27 (2004) 1073-1089.

DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-2695.2004.00825.x

[6] L.E. Murr, S.A. Quinones, S.M. Gaytan, M.I. Lopez, A. Rodela, E.Y. Martinez, D.H. Hernandez, E. Martinez, F. Medina, R.B. Wicker, Microstructure and mechanical behavior of Ti–6Al–4V produced by rapid-layer manufacturing, for biomedical applications, Journal of the mechanical behavior of biomedical materials. 2 (2009).

DOI: 10.1016/j.jmbbm.2008.05.004

[7] B.C. Carr, T. Goswami. Knee Implants – Review of Models and Biomechanics. Materials & Design. 30 (2) (2009) 398-413.

DOI: 10.1016/j.matdes.2008.03.032

[8] SLM Solutions GmbH Company from Lubeck, Germany, Material datasheets available at http: /www. slm-solutions. com/cms/upload/pdf/SLM-Material. pdf, accessed: 10. 10. (2013).

[9] E-Fatigue stress amplitude calculator, E-Fatigue LLT website available at https: /www. efatigue. com/constantamplitude/background/stresslife. html, accessed: 08. 10. (2012).

[10] Hardness conversion chart available on Metal Ravne Company webpage, available at: http: /www. metalravne. com/selector/calculators/hardness/hardness_table. html, accessed: 8. 10. (2012).