Self-consolidation mechanism of porous TI-6AL-4V implant prototypes produced by electro-discharge-sintering of spherical TI-6AL-4V powders

Abstract

Electro-Discharge-Sintering (EDS) was employed to fabricate Ti-6Al-4V porous implant prototypes from atomized powders (100-150 μm), that were subjected to discharges of 0.75 to 2.0 kJ/0.7g-powder from 150, 300, and 450 μF capacitors. Both fully porous and porous-surfaced Ti-6Al-4V compacts with various solid core sizes were self-consolidated in less than 86-155 μsec. It is known that EDS can simultaneously produce the pinch pressure to squeeze and deform powder particles and the heat to weld them together. The formation of a solid core in these prototypes depends on the amounts of both the pinch pressure and heat generated during a discharge. The size of the solid core and the thickness of the porous layer can be successfully controlled by manipulating the discharge conditions such as input energy and capacitance.