Selective Laser Sintering of PA 2200 for Hip Implant Applications: Finite Element Analysis, Process Optimization, Morphological and Mechanical Characterization

Răzvan Păcurar; Petru Berce; Anna Petrilak; Ovidiu Nemeş; Cristina Ştefana Miron Borzan; Marta Harničárová; Ancuţa Păcurar

doi:10.3390/ma14154240

Selective Laser Sintering of PA 2200 for Hip Implant Applications: Finite Element Analysis, Process Optimization, Morphological and Mechanical Characterization

Materials (Basel). 2021 Jul 29;14(15):4240. doi: 10.3390/ma14154240.

Authors

Răzvan Păcurar¹, Petru Berce¹, Anna Petrilak¹, Ovidiu Nemeş², Cristina Ştefana Miron Borzan¹, Marta Harničárová^{3

4}, Ancuţa Păcurar¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Manufacturing Engineering, Faculty of Industrial Engineering, Robotics, Management and Production Management, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, B-dul Muncii 103-105, 400641 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
² Department of Environmental Engineering and Sustainable Development Entrepreneurship, Faculty of Materials and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, B-dul Muncii 103-105, 400641 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
³ Department of Electrical Engineering, Automation and Informatics, Faculty of Engineering, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Tr. A. Hlinku 2, 949 76 Nitra, Slovakia.
⁴ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Technology, Institute of Technology and Business in České Budějovice, Okružní 10, 370 01 České Budějovice, Czech Republic.

Abstract

Polyamide 12 (PA 22000) is a well-known material and one of the most biocompatible materials tested and used to manufacture customized medical implants by selective laser sintering technology. To optimize the implants, several research activities were considered, starting with the design and manufacture of test samples made of PA 2200 by selective laser sintering (SLS) technology, with different processing parameters and part orientations. The obtained samples were subjected to compression tests and later to SEM analyses of the fractured zones, in which we determined the microstructural properties of the analyzed samples. Finally, an evaluation of the surface roughness of the material and the possibility of improving the surface roughness of the realized parts using finite element analysis to determine the optimum contact pressure between the component made of PA 2200 by SLS and the component made of TiAl6V4 by SLM was performed.

Keywords: acetabular liner; compression; contact pressure; finite element analysis; hip implants; paraxylene immersion; selective laser sintering; surface roughness.