The study determined (i) the effects of electrical discharge machining (EDM) on the shear-bond strength (SBS) of the bond between luting resin and zirconia ceramic and (ii) zirconia ceramic's flexural strength with the three-point bending (TPB) test. Sixty 4.8mm×4.8mm×3.2mm zirconia specimens were fabricated and divided into four groups (n=15): SBG: sandblasted+silane, TSCG: tribochemical silica coated+silane, LTG: Er:YAG laser treated+silane, EDMG: EDM+silane. The specimens were then bonded to a composite block with a dual-cure resin cement and thermal cycled (6000 times) prior to SBS testing. The SBS tests were performed in a universal testing machine. The SBS values were statistically analyzed using ANOVA and Tukey's test. To determine flexural strength, sixty zirconia specimens were prepared and assigned to the same groups (n=15) mentioned earlier. After surface treatment TPB tests were performed in a universal testing machine (ISO 6872). The flexural strength values were statistically analyzed using ANOVA and Tukey's test (α=0.05). The bond strengths for the four test groups (mean±SD; MPa) were as follows: SBG (Control), 12.73±3.41, TSCG, 14.99±3.14, LTG, 7.93±2.07, EDMG, 17.05±2.71. The bond strength of the EDMG was significantly higher than those of the SBG and LTG (p0.05). The EDM process improved the SBS. In addition, there was no significant adverse effect of EDM on the flexural strength of zirconia.

Porous titanium (Ti) offers several key attributes as a biomedical material. Among the known characteristics of Ti relevant to biomedical applications, the mechanical performance and effects of a pore structure on the deformation characteristics under compressive loading were examined. The space holder method was employed to generate Ti foams with target porosities of 60%, 70%, and 80%. A micro-computed to mography analysis and light and scanning electron microscopy were performed to examine the pore morphology and microstructure. The mechanical properties along with the elastic modulus and compressive strength were evaluated via uniaxial compression testing. Ti foam samples with three porosity levels displayed average elastic moduli and compressive strengths comparable with those of human cancellous and cortical bone. All the Ti foam samples had elastic moduli similar to those of cancellous bone with their open porous structures. Although the foam samples with ~60% porosity had compressive strength comparable to that of cortical bone, the samples with ~80% porosity displayed compressive strength similar to that of cancellous bone. The results indicate that Ti foam scaffolds produced using the space holder method have great potential for applications in hard tissue engineering, as their mechanical properties and pore structures are similar to those of bone.