Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters) ›› 2016, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (5): 464-474.DOI: 10.1007/s40195-016-0410-5

Special Issue: 2016复合材料专辑

• Orginal Article • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Prediction of Compressive Strength of Biodegradable Mg-Zn/HA Composite via Response Surface Methodology and Its Biodegradation

Loy Liang Soon1, Hussain Zuhailawati1(), Ismail Suhaina1, Brij Kumar Dhindaw2   

  1. 1 Structural Materials Niche Area Group, School of Materials and Mineral Resources Engineering, Engineering Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Penang,Malaysia
    2 School of Minerals Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, Bhubaneswar 751007, India
  • Received:2016-04-07 Revised:2016-04-07 Online:2016-04-07 Published:2016-05-10

Abstract:

:This work aimed to fabricate magnesium zinc/hydroxyapatite (Mg-Zn/HA) composite via powder metallurgy method and to develop a mathematical model to predict the compressive strength of the composite using response surface methodology method. The effect of various mechanical milling parameters, milling speed (200-300 r/min), ball-to-powder weight ratio (5-12.5) and HA content (2.6-10 wt%) on the compressive strength of Mg-Zn/HA composite was investigated. The model shows that high compressive strength of Mg-Zn/HA composite was achieved when the powders were prepared with high milling speed and ball-to-powder weight ratio and low HA content. The mathematical model was adequate with error percentage lower than 3.4%. The microstructure of Mg-Zn/HA composite with different process parameters revealed that fine microstructure was observed at high milling speed and ball-to-powder weight ratio while agglomeration of HA was found in composite with 10 wt% HA. The agglomeration of HA led to degradation of interfacial bonding strength between matrix and reinforcement phases and hence decreased the overall compressive strength of Mg-Zn/HA composite. Biodegradation test revealed that sample with higher HA content had more weight gain and there was more formation of hydroxyapatite. Mg-Zn/HA composite with 8 wt% HA was found to be the best candidate for implant application because it had considerable compressive strength and good biodegradation properties.

Key words: Powder metallurgy, Magnesium-zinc alloy, Hydroxyapatite, Response surface methodology, Biodegradation