Effect of Controlled Porosity on the Mechanical Properties of Ti-Zr-Sn-Mo Biomedical Alloys

In this study, a simple and effective way to fabricate highly porous scaffolds with controlled porosity and pore size is demonstrated. Ti-7Zr-6Sn-3Mo shape memory alloy fibers were prepared through a melt overflow process. The scaffolds with porosity of 65-85% and large pores of 100-700 μm in size were fabricated by sintering the as-solidified fibers. Microstructures and transformation behaviors of the porous scaffolds were investigated by means of SEM, DSC and XRD. The scaffolds were composed of β phase at room temperature. Superelasticity with the superelastic recovery strain of 7.4% was achieved by β↔α”phase transformation. An effect of porosity on mechanical properties of porous scaffolds was investigated by using compressive test. As the porosity increased from 65% to 85%, elastic modulus and compressive strength decreased from 0.95 to 0.06 GPa and from 27 to 2 MPa, respectively.