Characterization of the Wear Resistance of 3D Printed Polylactic-Acid (PLA) in Water and Bovine Serum

Three-dimensional (3D) printing has become an emerging technology for the fabrication of geometrically complex, patient-specific biomedical implants. However, several properties of the 3D printed material have not so far been fully understood. Among these properties, wear resistance is considered as the critical one for the 3D printed material that should be applied as a sliding component in an artificial joint prosthesis. In this research, the wear resistance of a 3D printed polylactic-acid (PLA) pin that slid over the surface of titanium plate was characterized in water and bovine serum by using a pin-on-plate tribometer. The result showed that the use of bovine serum could reduce the wear of the 3D printed PLA better than the use of the water as the lubricant. Based on the analysis of weight losses and worn surface morphology, polymer film transfer was proposed as the possible wear mechanism that occurred during the sliding of the 3D printed PLA pin over the surface of the Ti plate.