Speaker
Description
Bioresorbable materials for use in medical implants are attracting interest in current research projects. Recent studies show promising results for Zinc-Magnesium (ZnMgx) alloys as biodegradable materials due to the combination of degradation rate and high strength resulting from grain refinement due to magnesium addition. By using Additive Manufacturing (AM), complex scaffold-like structures and patient-specific implants can be realized. This work aims to clarify the effect of AM process parameters and magnesium content of binary ZnMgx alloys on the relative density and resulting mechanical properties. Furthermore, process monitoring and non-destructive testing will be explored for quality assurance.
For the experiments atomized pure Zn and pre-alloyed ZnMgx powder is used. The test specimens are manufactured on a modified Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) laboratory system with tailored shielding gas circulation. For each alloy, cuboid test specimens with different energy inputs are manufactured and evaluated regarding relative density. Next, one set of parameters is chosen to manufacture cylinders and lattice-structures from those alloys in order to determine the mechanical properties. In addition, Optical Tomography will be used to detect irregularities and µCT data will be matched to ensure a reproducible manufacturing of samples. This gathered information will be used to manufacture a bioresorbable implant as a medical demonstrator using LPBF.