LASER Additive Manufacturing of Titanium-Tantalum Alloy Structured Interfaces for Modular Orthopedic Devices

摘要

Tantalum is recognized to have better biocompatibility and osseointegrative properties than other more commonly used orthopedic grade alloys. There are several novel methods that tantalum or tantalum-titanium could be used to augment orthopedic implants. A tantalum or tantalum-titanium alloy at the bone/implant or modular component interfaces would substantially increase the longevity and performance of modular devices. Bonding a functional tantalum coating to a titanium orthopedic device is inherently difficult because of the small difference between the melting temperature of tantalum, 3017A degrees C, and the boiling point of titanium, 3287A degrees C. LASER powder deposition (LPD) is a fusion operation using an Nd:YAG to melt a small volume of substrate into which metal powder is sprayed achieving high temperature with a high solidification rate. LPD of Ti-Ta onto a Ti-6Al-4V substrate produced both a solid surface and structured coating with a pore size in the optimal 350-500 mu m range.