Co-Powder Injection Moulding (Co-PIM) Processing of Titanium Alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) and Hydroxyapatite (HA)

Co-powder injection moulding (Co-PIM) is a metal/ceramic injection moulding that offers co-injection of two materials, which effectively reduces the cost and surface engineered component's development. However, co-injection of metal and ceramics is still lacking due to the limitation of different material properties. The purpose of this study was to investigate a co-injection of Ti-6Al- 4V and HA experimentally. Three different solid loadings (68, 69, and 70 vol%) of Ti-6Al-4V feedstocks were co-injected with 56 vol% of HA. The binder composition added was 60 vol% polyethylene (PE) and 40 vol % palm stearin (PS). The Co-PIM green part of Ti-6Al-4V and HA diffused well at injection processing parameters of injection melting temperature 150 degrees C, mould temperature 90 degrees C, injection pressure 10 bars, and holding time 10s, respectively. The result shows that the bonding strength increased proportionally to the increasing volume of Ti-6Al-4V. The 70 vol% Ti-6Al-4V/56 vol% HA shows the highest density and bonding strength of 2.72 g/cm(3) and 2.27 MPa was approximately achieved. In addition, the binder systems improved the bonding mechanism of the green part without cracks appeared at the bonding of two materials. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.