Research Projects

Commercially available bone fixation implants have a few issues in long-time use, like inflammatory reactions, improper osseointegration effects, etc. It is mainly due to the implant’s material properties (like mechanical and biocompatibility) and improper design. Due to this, researchers are trying to develop new materials and manufacturing methods for improving implant (mechanical and osseointegration) properties. In the domain of materials, functionally graded material (FGM) is one of the successful developments that possess tailorable properties. From the available experimental studies, it can be conceived that the osseointegration property of FGM-based implants can be tailored by using any biodegradable material. In long-term use of FGM-based implants with high biodegradable material concentration at surface, micro-pores will get created which act as site for cell growth. The additive manufacturing (AM) process is considered as the most suitable technique for fabricating FGM’s and it also provides the possibility of producing customized products relatively faster and with lesser cost. Experimental results have showed that the composites of Ti6Al4V/hydroxyapatite (HA), has better osseointegration properties than pure Ti6Al4V alloy. Researchers have concluded that the HA present on the composite surface gets reabsorbed which further helps in the growth of bone tissue. Our preliminary experimentation results on additively manufactured Ti6Al4V/HA composite have also shown a significant improvement in osseointegration properties. However, in order to investigate each aspect of the developed Ti6Al4V/HA based FGM a detailed experimental study on corrosion, fatigue behaviour , etc. needs to be carried. The proposed study indent to carry a detailed investigation on all the variables (like AM parameters and composite composition) that affect the fabricated FGM properties. In order to evaluate the effect of each variable separately, discrete experiments have been planned. Primarily the direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) parameters will be optimized to achieve the maximum yield strength and young’s modulus for one composition (10%HA+90%Ti64). Further, samples with different Ti6Al4V/HA compositions will be fabricated at optimum DMLS parameters for evaluating the effect of HA presence on its corrosion, wear, osseointegration and mechanical, properties. The results of these studies will be further used to used to design Ti6Al4V/HA based FGM with optimum osseointegration properties. The outcome of the proposed study will help the biomedical industries to fabricate the implant with better osseointegration properties.