Contact nanofatigue shows crack growth in amorphous calcium phosphate on Ti, Co-Cr and Stainless steel

Fatigue testing of load-bearing coated implants is usually very time-consuming and so a new contact nanofatigue test using a nanoindenter has been evaluated. A cube corner indenter provided the fastest indication of failure, through crack formation, compared to a spherical indenter. Contact nanofatigue was performed on a sintered hydroxyapatite and then on amorphous calcium phosphate splats produced on titanium, stainless steel and Co–Cr surfaces, made either at room temperature or on 250 °C preheated surfaces. Sintered hydroxyapatite showed continual plastic deformation, but this is not that apparent for splats on metal surfaces. Substrate preheating was found to induce cracking in splats, explained by greater thermal residual stresses. Endurance during contact nanofatigue, measured as time to crack formation, was the lowest for splats on titanium followed by Co–Cr and stainless steel. The splat on titanium showed both cracking and plastic deformation during testing. Good agreement has been reached with previous studies with cracking directed to the substrate without splat delamination. Contact nanofatigue with the nanoindenter easily and quickly identifies cracking events that previously required detection with acoustic emission, and shows good feasibility for mechanical testing of discs and splats produced by thermal spraying, spray forming, laser-ablation, aerosol jet and ink jet printing.