Formability of Porous Tantalum Sheet-Metal

Over the past 10 years, a novel cellular solid, Trabecular Metal^TM (TM), has been developed for use in the orthopedics industry as an ingrowth scaffold. Manufactured using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on top of a graphite foam substrate, this material has a regular matrix of interconnecting pores, high strength, and high porosity. Manufacturing difficulties encourage the application of stamping and forming technologies to increase CVD reactor throughput and reduce materials wastes. In this study, the formability of TM was evaluated using a novel camera-based system for measuring surface strains, since the conventional approach of printing or etching gridded patterns was not feasible. A forming limit diagram was then obtained using specially fabricated 1.65 mm thick sheets. No lubricant was used due to the cleanliness requirements for orthopedic implants.