Effect of pore structure on the compressive property of porous Ti produced by powder metallurgy technique

•Porous Ti with various pore size and porosity was made using PMMA as space holder.•Compressive strength and modulus vary with the porosity and macro-pore size.•The failure of the struts on porous Ti is controlled primarily by macro-pores.•Compressive fractography shows the brittle cleavage fracture mainly.

Porous Ti with an average macro-pore size of 200–400 μm and porosity in the range of 10–65% has been manufactured using polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) powders as spacer particles. The compressive strength and elastic modulus of resultant porous Ti are observed in the range of 32–530 MPa and 0.7–23.3 GPa, respectively. With the increasing of the porosity and macro-pore size, the compressive strength and modulus decrease as described by Gibson–Ashby model. The failure due to cracking (complete fracture) of the struts on porous Ti is controlled primarily by macro-pores. Fractography shows evidence of the brittle cleavage fracture mainly, but containing a few fine shallow dimples and a small amount of transcrystalline fracture of similarly oriented laths. The failure mechanism has been discussed by taking the intrinsic microstructural features into consideration.