Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) is used to fabricate Titanium-Niobium-Zirconium-Tantalum alloy (TNZT) powder-based bioimplant components with controllable porosity. The developed densification maps show the effects of final SPS temperature, pressure, holding time, and initial particle size on final sample relative density. Correlations between the final sample density and mechanical properties of the fabricated TNZT components are also investigated and microstructural analysis of the processed material is conducted. A densification model is proposed and used to calculate the TNZT alloy creep activation energy. The obtained experimental data can be utilized for the optimized fabrication of TNZT components with specific microstructural and mechanical properties suitable for biomedical applications.
Keywords: Spark Plasma Sintering; TNZT; bioimplant; porosity.