EFFECT OF COMPOSITION AND SINTERING TEMPERATURES ON THE PROPERTIES OF STAINLESS STEEL (SS316L) - HYDROXYAPATITE (HAP) FOAM

Abstract

SS316L stainless steel is one of the most commonly available commercial biomaterials due to its ease of biocompatibility and long-standing performance in the human body. In this study, SS316L-Hydroxyapatite (HAP) foam was fabricated using the slurry method with composition of 60 wt.% SS316L. The hydroxyapatite powder compositions were varied in the range of 1 wt.% to 10 wt.% while the binders’ composition such as Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) and Carboxymethyl Cellulose (CMC) were fixed at 2.5 wt.%.  The balance of the composition was distilled water which was used as a solvent. Polyurethane (PU) foam was used as a sacrificial template.  The morphology analysis of the SS316L-HAP foam was carried out using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The effects of HAP composition and sintering temperatures of 1150 °C and 1350 °C on the SS316L-HAP foam properties such as pore size, modulus elasticity and yield strength were investigated. The result of yield strength and modulus elasticity were obtained in the range of 3.01 MPa-18.85 MPa and 0.02 GPa-0.49 GPa, respectively. The pore size was found in the range of 100 µm to 386 µm while the cancellous bone yield strength and modulus elasticity are between 4.1 MPa-68 MPa and 0.02 GPa to 5 GPa, respectively. The SS316L-HAP foam produced has properties and microstructure almost similar with the cancellous bone. Hence, it has a great potential for biomaterial application