An Overview of Highly Porous Titanium Processed via Metal Injection Molding in Combination with the Space Holder Method

Abstract

In the past two decades, titanium foams have attracted greater interest from the biomedical industry due to their excellent chemical and mechanical biocompatibility when used as biomimetic implants. The porous structure plays an important role in bone adhesion to an implant, allowing its growth into the component. Moreover, the voids reduce the elastic modulus, promoting greater compatibility with the bone, avoiding the stress shielding effect. In this regard, metal injection molding is an attractive process for titanium foams manufacturing due to the high microstructural control and the possibility of producing, on a large scale, parts with complex near-net-shaped structures. In this review, recent discoveries and advantages regarding the processing of titanium powders and alloys via metal injection molding combined with the space holder method are presented. This approach can be used to obtain foams with high biocompatibility with the human body at a microstructural, chemical, and mechanical level.

Keywords

• titanium foams
• metal injection molding
• space holder
• implant
• powder metallurgy