New insight to the mechanical reliability of porous and nonporous hydroxyapatite

Failure analysis (mechanical reliability) and modeling have been a missing hydroxyapatite research. Two-parameter Weibull distribution assisted by modeling was analyzed on HAp mechanical properties. Physical measurements (density and porosity) were also done on the analyzed samples. SEM/EDS analysis revealed the characteristics of HAp and also the nature of the synthesis route employed through its irregular morphology. The characteristic hardness and compressive strength, coupled with their corresponding bounds, failure rates, and correlation coefficients, have been presented. The Weibull analysis with the assistance of modeling revealed HAp fabricated under 10 KN compaction load and sintered at 1100 °C as the most reliable sample under hardness condition, while HAp fabricated under 15 KN compaction load and sintered at 1000 °C gave the most reliable characteristic under compression. Although the analysis revealed that all the samples possess overall good mechanical reliability, however HAp fabricated under 15 KN compaction and sintered at 1100 °C gave the best overall mechanical reliability. Conversely, the porosity evaluation further revealed that HAp under 5KN compaction load at 900 °C sintering temperature possess the best porosity for cell proliferation. Hence, this study recommends that HAp under 5KN compaction load at 900 °C sintering temperature will better perform for load bearing tissue engineering application. Also, future study is recommended to be conducted on other essential mechanical properties for biomedical applications. Biological reliability is also recommended to be investigated.