Continuous Mode Laser Coating of Hydroxyapatite/Titanium Nanoparticles on Metallic Implants: Multiphysics Simulation and Experimental Verification

Abstract

A novel methodology of laser coating of mixture of bioceramic and titanium nanoparticles onto metal implants is developed in this work. Feasibility of this approach is demonstrated via both multiphysics simulation and experiments. Treating incident laser as an electromagnetic wave, an electromagnetic (EM) module is coupled with a heat transfer (HT) module. The EM-HT model analyzes the interaction between laser and nanoparticles and ends up with a temperature rise in the system. Hydroxyapatite (HAp) and titanium nanoparticles are coated on the Ti–6Al–4V substrate. Processing parameters such as laser power, beam radius, scan speed, and layer thickness are studied, and correlation between these parameters and the final temperature is presented. The effect of the HAp/Ti mixing ratio to the generated temperature is also examined. Experiments are carried out to verify the model. Good agreements have been found between the EM-HT model and experiments.