Corrosion Resistance and Mechanical Characterization of Ankle Prostheses Fabricated via Selective Laser Melting

This paper reports the results obtained in the evaluation of the corrosion resistance and mechanical characterization for SLM fabrication of endoprosthetic ankle devices. The corrosion behavior was monitored by recording the EIS spectra and polarization curves during 15 days of immersion in phosphate buffer saline (PBS) solution at pH 7.4 and pH 4, simulating the compositions of the body fluids under normal and inflammatory conditions, respectively. The surface of the samples was characterized with a scanning electron microscope coupled with an energy dispersive microanalysis (SEM/EDS). Finally, by considering mechanical resistance, corrosion resistance and manufacturing time, a differentiated process parameter strategy was proposed for bulk and surface fabrication.