Abstract:
Objective
To study the effect of different pore size on Young's modulus and compressive strength of porous Nickel-Titanium （NiTi） alloy.
Methods
The porous NiTi specimens were fabricated by the method of powder metallurgy with NH4HCO3 powder served as the temporary space-holder and pore size regulator.The microsurface characteristics and pore morphology were observed by metallographic microscopy.Young's modulus and the compressive strength were measured by a universal testing machine.Statistical analyses were performed by the computerized statistical package SPSS 16.0.
Results
The porous NiTi specimens exhibited threedimensionally interconnected， permeable and open structures with the pore size ranged from （89.5±45.4）μm to （735.0±82.3）μm.Young's modules of the specimens were between （7.2±0.3）GPa and （9.2±0.3）GPa， and the compressive strength were from （595.3±41.4）MPa to （889.1±56.4）MPa.The Young's modules and compressive strength of porous NiTi specimens decreased gradually with the increase of the pore size （P ＜0.05）.
Conclusions
Pore size of porous NiTi alloy has a significant impact on the Young's modulus and compressive strength.When the size of the spaceholder is about 50-200 μm， the porous NiTi specimens possess the best compressive strength.
Key words:
NiTi,
Porous material,
Biomechanical properties
Tian TIAN, Rui-feng GUAN, Ke ZHAO, Xin-ping ZHANG. Effect of the pore size on Young's modulus and compressive strength of porous Nickel-Titanium alloy[J]. Chinese Journal of Stomatological Research(Electronic Edition), 2011, 5(03): 268-273.