Effects of gravity on combustion synthesis of functionally graded biomaterials Original Research Article

Combustion synthesis, or self-propagating, high temperature synthesis is currently being used at the Colorado School of Mines to produce advanced materials for biomedical applications. These biomaterials include ceramic, intermetallic, and metal-matrix composites for applications ranging from structural to oxidation- and wear-resistant materials, e.g., TiC-Ti, TiC-Cr3C2, MOSi2-SiC, NiAl-TiB2, to engineered porous composites, e.g., B4C-Al2O3, Ti-TiBx, Ni-Ti, Ca3(P04)2 and glass-ceramic composites, e.g., CaO-SiO2-BaO-Al2O3-TiB2. The goal of the functionally graded biomaterials project is to develop new materials, graded in porosity and composition, which will combine the desirable mechanical properties of implant, e.g., NiTi, with the bone-growth enhancement properties of porous biodegradable ceramics, e.g., Ca3(PO4)2. Recent experiments on the NASA parabolic flight (KC-135) aircraft have shown that gravity plays an important role in controlling the structure and properties of materials produced by combustion synthesis. The results of these studies, which will be presented at the conference, will provide valuable input to the design of experiments to be done in Space-DRUMSTM, a containerless materials processing facility scheduled to be placed on the International Space Station in 2003.