Mechanical behaviour of porous hydroxyapatite

The aim of the study was to investigate the role of microstructure and porosity on the mechanical behaviour of sintered hydroxyapatite. Hydroxyapatite disks with four different porosities were used in this investigation. With a nanoindentation system, elastic modulus, hardness, contact stress–strain relationship, energy absorption and indentation creep behaviour were investigated. The elastic modulus and hardness of hydroxyapatite exhibited an exponential relationship (e−bP) with the porosity P, which is similar to Rice’s finding with the minimum solid area model. High porosity samples showed more substantial inelastic behaviour, including higher energy absorption, no linear elastic region in the contact stress–strain curve and some indentation creep behaviour. We conclude that porous microstructure endows hydroxyapatite with inelastic deformation properties, which are important in a material for bone substitution usage.