Porous metal structures have emerged as a promising solution in repairing and replacing damaged bone in biomedical applications. With the advent of additive manufacturing technology, fabrication of porous scaffold architecture of different unit cell types with desired parameters can replicate the biomechanical properties of the natural bone, thereby overcoming the issues, such as stress shielding effect, to avoid implant failure. The purpose of this research was to investigate the influence of cube and gyroid unit cell types, with pore size ranging from 300 to 600 µm, on porosity and mechanical behavior of titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V) scaffolds. Scaffold samples were modeled and analyzed using finite element analysis (FEA) following the ISO standard (ISO 13314). Selective laser melting (SLM) process was used to manufacture five samples of each type. Morphological characterization of samples was performed through micro CT Scan system and the samples were later subjected to compression testing to assess the mechanical behavior of scaffolds. Numerical and experimental analysis of samples show porosity greater than 50% for all types, which is in agreement with desired porosity range of natural bone. Mechanical properties of samples depict that values of elastic modulus and yield strength decreases with increase in porosity, with elastic modulus reduced up to 3 GPa and yield strength decreased to 7 MPa. However, while comparing with natural bone properties, only cube and gyroid structure with pore size 300 µm falls under the category of giving similar properties to that of natural bone. Analysis of porous scaffolds show promising results for application in orthopedic implants. Application of optimum scaffold structures to implants can reduce the premature failure of implants and increase the reliability of prosthetics.
1 May 2021 in Journal of Materials Research and Technology
Meltless recycling technique has been utilized to overcome the lack of primary resources, focusing on reducing the usage of energy and materials. Hot press was proposed as a novel direct recycling technique which results in astoundingly low energy usage in contrast with conventional recycling. The aim of this study is to prove the technical feasibility of this approach by characterizing the recycled samples. For this purpose, AA6061 aluminium chips were recycled by utilizing hot press process under various operating temperature (Ts= 430, 480, and 530 °C) and holding times (ts= 60, 90, and 120 min). The maximum mechanical properties of recycled chip are Ultimate tensile strength (UTS) = 266.78 MPa, Elongation to failure (ETF) = 16.129%, while, for surface integrity of the chips, the calculated microhardness is 81.744 HV, exhibited at Ts = 530 °C and ts = 120 min. It is comparable to theoretical AA6061 T4-temper where maximum UTS and microhardness is increased up to 9.27% and 20.48%, respectively. As the desired mechanical properties of forgings can only be obtained by means of a final heat treatment, T5-temper, aging after forging process was employed. Heat treated recycled billet AA6061 (T5-temper) are considered comparable with as-received AA6061 T6, where the value of microhardness (98.649 HV) at 175 °C and 120 min of aging condition was revealed to be greater than 3.18%. Although it is quite early to put a base mainly on the observations in experimental settings, the potential for significant improvement offered by the direct recycling methods for production aluminium scrap can be clearly demonstrated. This overtures perspectives for industrial development of solid state recycling processes as environmentally benign alternatives of current melting based practices.
In this study, the response surface methodology (RSM) and desirability function (DF) were utilized to optimize the recycling conditions of aluminum (AA6061) chips, in the presence of particulate alumina (Al2O3), to obtain a metal matrix composite of recycled aluminum (MMC-AlR) using hot press forging processes. The effects of temperature (430–530 °C) and holding time (60–120 min) were investigated. The introduction of 2.0 wt. % of Al2O3 to the aluminum matrix was based on preliminary research and some pilot tests. This study employed the 2k factorial design of experiments that should satisfy the operating temperatures (T) of 430 °C and 530 °C with holding times (t) of 60 min and 120 min. The central composite design (CCD) was utilized for RSM with the axial and center point to evaluate the responses to the ultimate tensile strength (UTS), elongation to failure (ETF), and microhardness (MH). Based on RSM, with the desirability of 97.6%, the significant parameters T = 530 °C and t = 120 min were suggested to yield an optimized composite performance with UTS = 317.99 MPa, ETF = 20.45%, and MH = 86.656 HV. Three confirmation runs were performed based on the suggested optimum parameters, and the error revealed was less than 25%. The mathematical models suggested by RSM could adequately describe the MMC-AlR responses of the factors being investigated.
Ecological manageability in manufacturing these days is a dire and exceptional issue and the principle concerns are identified with increasingly proficient utilization of energy and materials. Recycling can save a large amount greenhouse gas emissions, particularly in the case of aluminum. The parameter on the innovative technique on the direct recycling was investigated by employing design of experiments, via hot press forging process (DR-HPF). Thus, reutilizing of aluminum chips AA6061 with full factorial 32 design of experiment comprising a variety of working temperature and holding time were employed. Central composite design (CCD) was applied to outline the experiments towards evaluating the influences of the hot press forging parameters to the three responses; ultimate tensile strength (UTS), elongation to failure (ETF), and global warming potential (GWP). In conjunction with this, the environmental impacts associated with DR-HPF process are evaluated alongside the resultant conventional recycling (CR) by using re-melting route as indication. Experimental measurements, literature analysis and industrial data were merged to acquire the analysis of aluminum recycling life cycle. Clear conclusions were successfully drawn through the attained results on the outlook proposed by solid state direct recycling for the purpose of reducing the environmental effects by taking material and energy conservation as one of the most essential impacting factor. The global warming potential of a DR-HPF route gives a significant environmental impact where it is reduced up to 69.2% in comparison to the conventional (melting) routes.
Welding parameters obviously determine the joint quality during the resistance spot welding process. This study aimed to investigate the effect of welding current and electrode force on the heat input and the physical and mechanical properties of a SS316L and Ti6Al4V joint with an aluminum interlayer. The weld current values used in this study were 11, 12, and 13 kA, while the electrode force values were 3, 4, and 5 kN. Welding time and holding time remained constant at 30 cycles. The study revealed that, as the welding current and electrode force increased, the generated heat input increased significantly. The highest tensile-shear load was recorded at 8.71 kN using 11 kA of weld current and 3 kN of electrode force. The physical properties examined the formation of a brittle fracture and several weld defects on the high current welded joint. The increase in weld current also increased the weld diameter. The microstructure analysis revealed no phase transformation on the SS316L interface; instead, the significant grain growth occurred. The phase transformation has occurred on the Ti6Al4V interface. The intermetallic compound layer was also investigated in detail using the EDX (Energy Dispersive X-Ray) and XRD (X-Ray Diffraction) analyses. It was also found that both stainless steel and titanium alloy have their own fusion zone, which is indicated by the highest microhardness value.