A study on the mechanical characteristics of the EBM-printed Ti-6Al-4V LCP plates in vitro

Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research

Ming Cai¹  Xing Wu²  Qi Sun²  Yong Yang²  Jin-peng Gong²  He-xi Shu²  Run Liu²  Yun-ji Yang³  Peng-cheng Liu¹ 

[1] First Clinical Medical College, Nanjing Medical University, No. 140 Hanzhong Road, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu Province, China;Department of Orthopaedics, Shanghai Tenth People¿s Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, No.301, Middle Yanchang Road, Shanghai 200072, China;Department of Orthopaedics, Chengdu 7th People¿s Hospital, No. 1 Twelve Middle Street, Wuhou District, Chengdu 610021, Sichuan Province, China

关键词: Bone plate;    Mechanical properties;    EBM;    Ti-6Al-4V;   

Others  :  1151667
DOI  :  10.1186/s13018-014-0106-3

 received in 2014-10-08, accepted in 2014-10-21,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Purpose

The electron beam melting (EBM) Ti-6Al-4V material technology has been developed over a short time period. It was introduced through a research to develop Ti-6Al-4V implants for patients, but EBM printed locking compression plates have not been used for clinical implants. The main purpose of this study is to find whether the EBM Ti-6Al-4V plate suit for clinical implants.

Methods

First, we scanned an AO-locking compression plate (LCP) and printed LCP samples using EBM. Next, we evaluated the EBM plate surface roughness through optical microscopy as well as the LCP and EBM plates¿ mechanical characteristics using the ASTM standard, which is commonly used to test the mechanical properties of bone plates subject to bending. Each sample was examined using a single-cycle four-point bending test and hardness testing to acquire data on bending stiffness, bending strength, bending structural stiffness, and hardness.

Results

The results show significant differences in bending stiffness, bending strength, bending structural stiffness, and hardness between the samples using EBM and the original LCP plates. The EBM-printed samples¿ surface roughness was 0.49?±?0.02 ?m. The mean hardness of the LCP sample was 266.67 HV10?±?5.8, and the EBM-printed sample mean hardness was 341.1 HV10?±?1.93. The EBM samples¿ bending stiffness was 87.67%, which is greater than using the LCP plates¿; and the bending strength was 190.7% greater, the bending structural stiffness was 73.2% greater, and the hardness was 27.9% greater.

Conclusions

The results show that the EBM plates¿ general mechanical strength was significantly greater than the LCP plates. An EBM plate is advantageous for clinical implants because it can be customized with great potential for improvement.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Liu et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

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