Journal Of Optoelectronics And Advanced Materials, vol.1, no.2, pp.200-208, 2009 (SCI-Expanded)
“As-received” and “sand-blasted” commercially pure titanium plates were chemically
treated in alkaline and hydogen peroxide solutions in order to improve osseointegration.
Both surface modification methods were carried out under optimum conditions stated in
the literature. The samples were subjected to a bending cyclic loading under a stress
amplitude of 250 MPa and R=0. The fatigue life of the as-received samples decreased
from 4.105
to 2.105
due to surface roughening effect of the surface treatments. On the other
hand, sand blasting increased the fatigue life of the sample significantly, although it also
increased the surface roughness. The reason is the blasting induced deformation and in
turn compressive stresses in the surface vicinity. Chemical treatments applied did not
affect the surface roughness of the sand blasted samples. However the fatigue life of the
sand blasted samples decreased drastically after chemical treatment. Chemical surface
treatments are generally accompanied by a post heat treatment. The decrease in the fatigue
life of the sand blasted plates is stemmed from stress relieving effect of the post heat
treatment. As a result surface modification methods applied for bioactivity should be also
evaluated with respect to its effects on the fatigue performance of the material. The
process parameters of the chemical surface treatment should be optimized taking into the
account the fatigue life of the implant.