Mechanical Performance of Artificial Hip Stems Manufactured by Hot Forging and Selective Laser Melting Using Biocompatible Ti-15Zr-4Nb Alloy

We investigated the microstructures, tensile properties, fatigue strengths, and durability limits of hot-forged Ti-15Zr-4Nb (Ti-15-4) alloy artificial hip stems. These properties were compared with those of Ti-15Zr-4Nb-4Ta (Ti-15-4-4) and Ti-6Al-4V (Ti-6-4) alloy stems annealed after selective laser melting. The tensile and fatigue properties of test specimens cut from Ti-15-4 stems annealed after hot forging were excellent compared with those of the Alloclassic Zweymüller Stepless (SL) stem, which is used globally. The 0.2% proof stress (σ0.2%PS), ultimate tensile strength (σUTS), total elongation (TE) at breaking, and fatigue strength (σFS) after 107 cycles were 919 ± 10, 983 ± 9 MPa, 21 ± 1%, and 855 ± 14 MPa, respectively. The durability limit (PD) after 5 × 106 cycles of Ti-15-4 stems was excellent compared with that of the SL stem. The σUTS values of 90°- and 0°-direction-built Ti-15-4-4 rods were 1032 ± 1 and 1022 ± 2 MPa, and their TE values were 14 ± 1% and 16 ± 1%, respectively. The σFS values of annealed 90°-direction-built Ti-15-4-4 and Ti-6-4 rods were 640 ± 11 and 680 ± 37 MPa, respectively, which were close to that of the wrought Ti-15-4 rod (785 ± 17 MPa). These findings indicate that the hot forging and selective laser melting (SLM) techniques can also be applied to the manufacture of artificial hip prostheses. In particular, it was clarified that selective laser melting using Ti-15-4-4 and Ti-6-4 powders is useful for the low-cost manufacturing of custom-made artificial joint prostheses and other prosthetic implants.