Use of Polymer Scaffolding and Electroplating to Create Porous Metal Structures

Abstract

Additive manufacturing (AM) offers a fabrication process that provides numerous advantages when compared with traditional fabrication methods. Specifically, AM technology allows for the creation of porous media where porosity and permeability can be precisely controlled. When manufacturing metallic artifacts for biomedical use (e.g., bone implants), the investment in a laser sintering machine can be prohibitive for the budget-conscious enterprises limiting the study and use of this technology. Electroforming, electroplating, and electrotyping have been used for decades to replicate the complex shape of unique artifacts and can be viable techniques to create complex metallic shapes starting from a conductive mandrel. We investigated a fabrication technique that combines the stereolithographic additive manufacturing of a polymeric mandrel with electroforming, to obtain porous composites of polymers and metals. The fabrication method to electroform a porous artifact is presented, and an analytical model of the combined properties of the composite material is provided.