Effect of hydroxyapatite nano rods on sinterability, hardness and bioactivity of Fe-14Mn-6Si alloy prepared by powder metallurgy

Recently, there is a great of industrial interest on the production of biodegradable metal/ceramic composites. The casted FeMn-Si alloys prepared by casting tools have low biodegradable rate; so it is important to seek a method as powder metallurgy (PM) to prepare porous bodies with increased biodegradability. Moreover, the addition of hydroxyapatite (HA) nano rods to that alloy increases its bioactivity and forms composite with improved properties. In the present study, Fe-14Mn-6Si/HA composites were prepared by PM and sintered at different temperatures, i.e. 1100, 1150 and 1200C. Also, the effect of HA nano-rods content on the composite properties (physical properties, microstructure and micro hardness) and bioactivity were studied. The results revealed that bulk density increased with increasing sintering temperature up to 1150C; then decreased at 1200C. Also, the bulk density increased with increasing the HA content. Moreover, the hardness of the sintered composites increased with increasing sintering temperature and HA amount. The maximum hardness values were 1293 & 1792 MPa for the specimens which contain 8 % HA and sintered at 1150 and 1200C, respectively. The bioactivity of the prepared composites increased with increasing HA amount. The highest bioactivity was for the composite that contains 8 wt.% HA. © 2021 Published by Published by Faculty of Engineering – Sohag University. DOI: 10.21608/sej.2021.72585.1000