Effects of Sintering Temperature on the Porosity and Mechanical Behavior of Porous Titanium Scaffolds Prepared by Freeze-Casting

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of sintering temperature on the microstructure, and associated mechanical properties of porous titanium scaffolds prepared by freeze-casting. Sintering temperature significantly influenced the porosity and the mechanical properties of the titanium scaffolds. The porosity decreased from 60 to 20% as the sintering temperatures increased from 800 to 1100 °C. The scaffolds were of an open pore structure with pore sizes ranging from 2 to 20 μm. The average wall thickness of the porous titanium was measured, using a micro-computed tomography, to be in the range from 9.2 to 26.2 μm. Elastic modulus was between 2 to 7 GPa, depending on vacuum annealing conditions. The compression strength of the scaffolds may exceed 1000 MPa as the sintering temperature higher than 1000 °C. The increase in titanium strength and stuffiness could be mainly attributed to the decrease in porosity as well as the increase in wall thickness.