The effect of porosity on the elasticity of pure titanium: An atomistic simulation

Abstract

The effects of the porosity, size, shape and mutual connectivity of pores on the elastic property of pure titanium were investigated using an atomistic simulation (molecular statics). The study concluded that the elasticity of porous Ti is mainly governed by its porosity. The results showed that the size and shape of the pores do not have a significant effect as long as the pores are separated from each other. The interconnection of the pores contributes to further decrease the elasticity than expected from the porosity of samples with isolated pores, and can be thought to be an important factor to further reduce the elasticity of porous load-bearing implant metals. In addition, the atomistic calculation proved to be a successful approach to use with experiments testing the effect of porosity on elastic property, and could be further developed to deal with Ti alloys that have more complex distribution and pore shapes.