Cavitational Erosion Behavior of a Biodegradable Alloy from the Zn-Mg System for Biomedical Applications

Abstract

Zinc and magnesium are known to be biocompatible metals. For this reason, current technologies seek to build parts to be implanted in various places to help the human body. Among these are those in the blood circulatory system, such as the stars and valves at the heart, which aim to increase the life span of the hydrodynamic shocks of the blood circulatory system, in order to prevent heart attacks, respectively the bursting of various vessels that can be life-threatening. Studies in the field of flow show that even in the human body there are manifestations of cavitational type, as a result of pressure variations, with decrease below that of vaporization and then increase. Starting from these findings, the paper presents the results of the cavitation tests, carried out on the bicocompatiobil ZnMg alloy, created in Politehnica University of Bucharest laboratories. The objective is a new and future one that will lead to the realization of valves for the heart, or stars, that can withstand the shocks produced by the implosions of the cavitational bubbles in the blood. For this purpose, microstructural investigations are performed, mechanical properties are analysed and the behavior and resistance to erosion generated by vibrating cavitation are studied, according to the reference standard ASTM G32-2016. The results, compared to those of pure zinc, show that this alloy is a solution for building biocompatible components that can serve cardiac people, in order to reduce the harmful effects of the blood circulatory system.