At 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan 28, Morteza Shaker Ardakani will be coming to Michigan Technological University to give a presentation on zinc-magnesium alloys and their uses in absorbable stenting. This presentation will be taking place in room 610 of the Minerals and Materials Engineering Building on campus. This lecture is open to all students and faculty who are interested in learning more.
A stent is used in the medical field as a metal or plastic implant, usually in a vessel such as an artery, to help keep a previously blocked passageway open. In recent years, zinc-based alloys have been introduced for most implants, due to their corrosion rate and their lack of harm to living tissue, or biocompatibility. However, these zinc alloys have poor mechanical strength and are unable to deform much before rupturing. As a result of this, zinc-alloys have not been commonly used in medical stents.
In many laboratories, researchers have been studying the potential of adding magnesium to zinc-alloys. Magnesium has been well-known to be biocompatible and has also been shown to improve the mechanical properties of zinc. Yet, there are still many unknowns involved in researching the potential use of this material. Stents need to be able to withstand potential deformation, and zinc-magnesium alloys still need further testing to see their strain rate sensitivity. This discussion will focus on the deformation mechanism of zinc-magnesium based alloys. Ardakani will also talk about of additional alloying elements within zinc-magnesium alloys.
Ardakani completed his BSc degree in Materials Science and Engineering, followed by MSc in Engineering Materials-Design and Selection in Iran from Sharif University of Technology. He worked as a lecturer and metallography lab supervisor for two years. He also worked as a melting expert in Chadormalu steel making plant in Iran for a few months. He joined Michigan Tech in the Fall of 2017 to pursue his PhD studying in SURFI team. We are happy to invite him here for this presentation, and anyone interested in learning more is welcome to attend.
