[Publications]

Abstract

This work aims to investigate the mechanical properties modifications of PEEK and CFR-PEEK. Tensile and fatigue tests have been performed before and after the plasma spray (PS) coating process in order to understand the modifications in terms of elastic modulus, tensile strength and fatigue limit. To distinguish the effects produced by sandblasting, representing the first step of PS coating process, mechanical characterization has been also carried out on a set of sandblasted PEEK and CFR-PEEK specimens. An analysis of the HA coating by SEM observation has been finally carried out before and after mechanical loads have been applied in order to investigate the adhesion, coverage and damage level eventually introduced by mechanical loads. A properly designed and applied HA plasma sparay process enables us to obtain CFR-PEEK components with potentially improved surface ostheoconductivity and modest tensile and fatigue properties modifications. SEM analysis shows a complete coating with adhesion properties satisfying standard specifications.