With the increase in human life expectancy and population aging, the clinical demand for novel biomedical materials is gaining urgency. Compared to polymers and ceramics, metallic materials are widely used in orthopedics and cardiovascular applications due to their outstanding combination of strength and toughness. Metallic materials that can serve as implants must have good biocompatibility, wear and corrosion resistance, and relatively low elastic modulus. Currently, the mainstream biomedical metals include stainless steel, CoCr alloys, titanium alloys, magnesium alloys, zinc alloys, and NiTi shape memory alloys. Recently, medical high-entropy alloys based on a variety of biocompatible elements are gaining increasing attention. The vast majority of metallic implants need to personalize their appearance to the patient, particularly for orthopedic implants, which also require interconnected pores inside them. Such requirements are almost impossible to achieve through traditional casting and machining methods. Thankfully, 3D printing technology, also known as additive manufacturing, enables the precise prototyping of complex, personalized 3D models and is currently the most mainstream technology for the fabrication of biomedical metals.
However, 3D printing of biomedical metals is still facing many challenges. For example, the rapid cooling rate causes high residual stress, poor fatigue performance, and corrosion resistance, which exposes them to the risk of early failure in the complicated body fluid micro-environment. For porous metallic implants, the deformation and fracture mechanisms have not been elucidated due to the stress concentration in their internal thin struts. Moreover, 3D printed products are difficult to perform surface modification due to their complex and individualized appearance and internal structure, which may affect their desired biological properties such as antibacterial and osteogenesis. Therefore, it is critical to carry out research targeting 3D-printed biomedical metals to better their overall performance in clinical service.
This Article Collection of Virtual and Physical Prototyping entitled “3D Printing of Multiple Metals in Biomedical Field” focuses on processing optimization, multi-scale mechanics, surface modification, and biological functions of 3D printed biomedical metals. The integration of alloy design, topological and processing optimization, deformation mechanisms, surface functionalization, and biocompatibility is highlighted in this Article Collection to present a fundamental understanding of 3D printed biomedical metals, thereby providing theoretical guidance to novel biomedical devices.
The relevant subtopics and desired focus from manuscript submission include but are not limited to:
- Alloy design for novel biomedical metals (Ti alloys, Mg alloys, high entropy alloys, etc.) for 3D printing.
- Topological and processing optimization of 3D printed biomedical metals(functional gradient structure, triply periodic minimal surfaces, bio-mimic structure, )
- Mechanical properties and deformation mechanism of 3D printed biomedical metals.
- Surface modification of additively manufactured medical metals with high performance.
- Multi-functionalization and biological properties of additive manufactured medical metals.
Article types include Original Research Articles, Short Communications, Reviews, Prospective, etc.
Keywords: 3D printing; Biomedical metals; Alloy design; Surface modification; Biocompatibility; Additive manufacture
All manuscripts submitted to this Article Collection will undergo a full peer-review; the Guest Advisor for this collection will not be handling the manuscripts (unless they are an Editorial Board member). Please review the journal scope and author submission instructions prior to submitting a manuscript.
The deadline for submitting manuscripts is 30 April 2024.
Liqiang Wang is a Professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He got his Ph.D. degree from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2009. His research focus is on alloy design, additive manufacturing, and surface modification of biomedical metallic materials. He has published more than 200 SCI papers and has published 5 books. He has served as an associate editor of 2 SCI journals and an editorial board member of 5 SCI journals.
Lai-Chang Zhang is a Professor in the School of Engineering at Edith Cowan University. He got his Ph.D. degree from Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2005. He has considerable expertise and extensive cross-disciplinary research activities in advanced manufacturing of different types of materials and the understanding of their processing, microstructure, and properties. He has published more than 350 SCI papers. He has been serving as Editorial Board Member for many prestigious academic journals such as Advanced Engineering Materials, Metals, and so on.
