2014-07, Bormann, Therese, Beckmann, Felix, Schinhammer, Michael, Deyhle, Hans, de Wild, Michael, Müller, Bert

Selective laser melting allows the fabrication of NiTi implants with pre-defined, complex shapes. The control of the process parameters regulates the arrangement of the granular microstructure of the NiTi alloy. We prepared specimens with elongated grains, which build a sound basis for diffraction contrast tomography experiments using synchrotron radiation and for electron backscatter diffraction measurements. Both approaches reveal the orientation and size of the individual grains within the specimen. Still, electron backscatter diffraction is confined to two-dimensional cross-sections while diffraction contrast tomography reveals these microstructural features in three dimensions. We demonstrate that the grains in the selective laser melted specimen, which are oriented along the building direction, do not exhibit a well-defined planar grain orientation but are twisted. These twisted grains give rise to diffraction spots observable for several degrees of specimen rotation simultaneously to the acquisition of tomography data.

2014, de Wild, Michael, Meier, Fabian, Bormann, Therese, Howald, Chaim, Müller, Bert

NiTi exhibits distinct damping properties associated with the martensite-austenite transformation. We fabricated net-shape NiTi parts layer-by-layer using a laser beam that locally melted the NiTi powder. The damping properties of such NiTi parts were analyzed by the decay of cantilever vibrations in comparison to conventionally prepared NiTi. The dynamic modulus as a function of the temperature was derived from the resonant frequency. We found that the two cantilevers showed a damping ratio of about 0.03 at temperatures below austenite start, maximal values of up to 0.04 in the transformation regions and low values of about 0.005 above austenite finish. The results indicate that selective-laser-melted NiTi qualifies for the fabrication of shock-absorbing medical implants in the same manner than conventionally produced NiTi.

2014-02, Bormann, Therese, Schulz, Georg, Deyhle, Hans, Beckmann, Felix, de Wild, Michael, Küffer, Jürg, Münch, Christoph, Hoffmann, Waldemar, Müller, Bert

Appropriate mechanical stimulation of bony tissue enhances osseointegration of load-bearing implants. Uniaxial compression of porous implants locally results in tensile and compressive strains. Their experimental determination is the objective of this study. Selective laser melting is applied to produce open-porous NiTi scaffolds of cubic units. To measure displacement and strain fields within the compressed scaffold, the authors took advantage of synchrotron radiation-based micro computed tomography during temperature increase and non-rigid three-dimensional data registration. Uniaxial scaffold compression of 6% led to local compressive and tensile strains of up to 15%. The experiments validate modeling by means of the finite element method. Increasing the temperature during the tomography experiment from 15 to 37 °C at a rate of 4 K h−1, one can locally identify the phase transition from martensite to austenite. It starts at ∼24 °C on the scaffolds bottom, proceeds up towards the top and terminates at ∼34 °C on the periphery of the scaffold. The results allow not only design optimization of the scaffold architecture, but also estimation of maximal displacements before cracks are initiated and of optimized mechanical stimuli around porous metallic load-bearing implants within the physiological temperature range.

2014, Bormann, Therese, Müller, Bert, Schinhammer, Michael, Kessler, Anja, Thalmann, Peter, de Wild, Michael

In selective laser melting, the layer-wise local melting of metallic powder by means of a scanning focused laser beam leads to anisotropic microstructures, which reflect the pathway of the laser beam. We studied the impact of laser power, scanning speed, and laser path onto the microstructure of NiTi cylinders. Here, we varied the laser power from 56 to 100 W and the scanning speed from about 100 to 300 mm/s. In increasing the laser power, the grain width and length increased from (33 ± 7) to (90 ± 15) μm and from (60 ± 20) to (600 ± 200) μm, respectively. Also, the grain size distribution changed from uni- to bimodal. Ostwald-ripening of the crystallites explains the distinct bimodal size distributions. Decreasing the scanning speed did not alter the microstructure but led to increased phase transformation temperatures of up to 40 K. This was experimentally determined using differential scanning calorimetry and explained as a result of preferential nickel evaporation during the fabrication process. During selective laser melting of the NiTi shape memory alloy, the control of scanning speed allows restricted changes of the transformation temperatures, whereas controlling the laser power and scanning path enables us to tailor the microstructure, i.e. the crystallite shapes and arrangement, the extent of the preferred crystallographic orientation and the grain size distribution.

2014-01-17, Hoffmann, Waldemar, Bormann, Therese, Rossi, Antonella, Müller, Bert, Schumacher, Ralf, Martin, Ivan, de Wild, Michael, Wendt, David

While calcium phosphate–based ceramics are currently the most widely used materials in bone repair, they generally lack tensile strength for initial load bearing. Bulk titanium is the gold standard of metallic implant materials, but does not match the mechanical properties of the surrounding bone, potentially leading to problems of fixation and bone resorption. As an alternative, nickel–titanium alloys possess a unique combination of mechanical properties including a relatively low elastic modulus, pseudoelasticity, and high damping capacity, matching the properties of bone better than any other metallic material. With the ultimate goal of fabricating porous implants for spinal, orthopedic and dental applications, nickel–titanium substrates were fabricated by means of selective laser melting. The response of human mesenchymal stromal cells to the nickel–titanium substrates was compared to mesenchymal stromal cells cultured on clinically used titanium. Selective laser melted titanium as well as surface-treated nickel–titanium and titanium served as controls. Mesenchymal stromal cells had similar proliferation rates when cultured on selective laser melted nickel–titanium, clinically used titanium, or controls. Osteogenic differentiation was similar for mesenchymal stromal cells cultured on the selected materials, as indicated by similar gene expression levels of bone sialoprotein and osteocalcin. Mesenchymal stromal cells seeded and cultured on porous three-dimensional selective laser melted nickel–titanium scaffolds homogeneously colonized the scaffold, and following osteogenic induction, filled the scaffold’s pore volume with extracellular matrix. The combination of bone-related mechanical properties of selective laser melted nickel–titanium with its cytocompatibility and support of osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stromal cells highlights its potential as a superior bone substitute as compared to clinically used titanium.

2012-12, Bormann, Therese, Schumacher, Ralf, Müller, Bert, Mertmann, Matthias, de Wild, Michael

Complex-shaped NiTi constructions become more and more essential for biomedical applications especially for dental or cranio-maxillofacial implants. The additive manufacturing method of selective laser melting allows realizing complex-shaped elements with predefined porosity and three-dimensional micro-architecture directly out of the design data. We demonstrate that the intentional modification of the applied energy during the SLM-process allows tailoring the transformation temperatures of NiTi entities within the entire construction. Differential scanning calorimetry, x-ray diffraction, and metallographic analysis were employed for the thermal and structural characterizations. In particular, the phase transformation temperatures, the related crystallographic phases, and the formed microstructures of SLM constructions were determined for a series of SLM-processing parameters. The SLM-NiTi exhibits pseudoelastic behavior. In this manner, the properties of NiTi implants can be tailored to build smart implants with pre-defined microarchitecture and advanced performance.