Novel open-cell bulk metallic glass foams with promising characteristics

Highlight
• BMGFs with 46–73% porosity were successfully fabricated.
• Pore size of BMGFs are very close to the required pore size for bone cell growth.
• Young's moduli and yield strength of the BMGFs are nicely comparable to human bone.
• Young's modulus of the BMGFs can well be predicted by Gibson and Ashby model.

A series of open-cell bulk metallic glass foams (BMGFs) with different porosity content from 46% to 75% were successfully fabricated by a space holder technique. Morphologies of the foam, the amorphous nature and mechanical properties were systematically investigated by a combination of scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning carlorimetry (DSC), and compression test. The BMGFs possess Young's moduli ranging from 4 to 21 GPa and yield strength within 65–231 MPa, matching well with the moduli as well as yield strength of human bones and the predictions from theoretical models. These BMGFs are promising for bio-implant application without significant stress shielding effect.

The open-cell Zr-based BMGFs with different porosities of 46–73% and homogeneous distributed pore size of 50–300 micron can be produced precisely by controlling the combination of process parameters. The resulting BMGFs possess Young's moduli of 21 down to 4 GPa, matching well with the moduli of human bone and the predictions by theoretical models, promising for bio-implant application in avoiding the stress shielding effect.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide