316L stainless steel scaffolds by freeze casting for biomedical applications
Year: 2010
Type: dissertation
Abstract: One major shortcoming found in current bone implant materials is that their mechanical properties exceed those of natural mineralized bone tissue by orders of magnitude. This mismatch in mechanical properties is the source of the reduction in bone density that occurs surrounding implants. This occurrence, known as stress shielding, is inevitable with today's bone substitute materials. Freeze casting allows for a simple one step technique to create a scaffold that can be tailored to match the porosity and mechanical properties of bone. Highly porous materials with cellular structures are known to have attractive combinations of physical and mechanical properties, such as high stiffness and strength per unit weight. Freeze casting, also known as "ice-templating" or directional solidification, is a processing technique used to create extremely porous structures with highly aligned interconnected pores. At the present time, freeze casting has been frequently applied to polymers and ceramics. However, to date, only four studies on metals have been published, all on the freezing casting of titanium. In this study, 316L stainless steel scaffolds were produced by freeze casting. With 70% porosity, these scaffolds achieved yield strengths of 32 MPa and Young's moduli of 940 MPa, values that fall into the strength and stiffness range of cancellous bone.
DOI: 10.17918/etd-4036
Authors: Thao Vi Le, Ulrike G. K. Wegst
Institutions: University of Dhaka, Drexel University
Language: English
Subfield: Biomedical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
OpenAlex ID: W4205147390