| Summary: | In this work, selective laser melting of Ti6Al4V (Ti64) and 2 wt.% hydroxyapatite (HA) composites was performed with the purpose of osseointegration enhancement and biological fixation between implants and bone tissue. The microstructural evolution and mechanical properties were analyzed by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), optical microscopy (OM), a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with (EDX) and (EBSD) systems, microhardness, nanoindentation, and tensile testing. The results showed that the Ti64-2%HA composite components exhibited complicated manufacturing behavior, which could be correlated with the decomposition of HA. The microstructure was found to mainly consist of α Ti with a small amount of HA distributed along grain boundaries. Furthermore, the interaction between Ti64 and HA leading to the formation of Ti<sub>3</sub>P, Ti<sub>x</sub>O, P, and CaTiO<sub>3</sub> phases, resulted in poor tensile properties, as compared to pure Ti64 components. Conversely, the tensile properties of SLM Ti64-2%HA composite components were significantly higher than human bone reported previously in the literature.
|
|---|