3D inkjet printing of biomaterials with strength reliability and cytocompatibility: Quantitative process strategy for Ti-6Al-4V.

3D inkjet printing of biomaterials with strength reliability and cytocompatibility: Quantitative process strategy for Ti-6Al-4V. Biomaterials. 2019 Aug;213:119212 Authors: Barui S, Panda AK, Naskar S, Kuppuraj R, Basu S, Basu B Abstract Among additive manufacturing (AM) techniques, laser or electron beam based processes have been widely investigated for metallic implants. Despite the potential in manufacturing of patient-specific biomedical implants, 3D inkjet powder printing (3DIJPP, a variant of AM) of biomaterials is still in its infancy, as little is known quantitatively about the transient process physics and dynamics. An equally important challenge has been the ink formulation to manufacture biomaterials with reliable mechanical properties and desired biocompatibility. We have developed, for the very first time, the theoretical foundation and experimental formulation of a unique process strategy involving the 'on-demand' delivery of a novel in situ polymerisable acrylic ink system to print a model biomaterial, Ti-6Al-4V. The post-ejection in-flight dynamics of ink droplets have been captured in situ by employing high speed stroboscopic shadowgraphy, to quantitatively estimate the dimensionless numbers of fluid physics for 'printability' assessment. Washburn model was adapted extensively to quantify the capillary ink infiltration time in porous powder bed of finite thickness. On the other hand, particle tracking mode in diffusin...
Source: Biomaterials - Category: Materials Science Authors: Tags: Biomaterials Source Type: research