Bulk and porous metastable beta Ti-Nb-Zr(Ta) alloys for biomedical applications

In this work, metastable beta Ti-Nb-Zr(Ta) ingots were manufactured by vacuum arc melting. The ingots thus obtained were divided into two batches: the first subjected to cold rolling (CR) from 30 to 85% of thickness reduction and subsequent annealing in the 450 to 900 °C temperature region, and the second atomized to produce 100 μm size powders. This powder was used to manufacture open-cell porous material. Regardless of the CR intensity, Ti-(18…20)Nb-(5…6)Zr (at.%) samples subjected to 600 °C (1 h) annealing showed a significant material softening due to the stress-induced martensitic transformation. The Young's modulus of these alloys varied between 45 and 55 GPa, and the yield stress, between 300 and 500 MPa. The obtained Young's moduli, which are comparable to 55-66 GPa of concurrent beta-titanium alloys and 45-50 GPa of superelastic Ti-Ni alloys, come close to those of cortical bones. Compression testing of the porous material as a function of porosity (from ~ 45 to 66%) and interconnected cell size (d50 from 300 to 760 μm) showed the following properties: Young's modulus from 7.5 to 3.7 GPa, which comes close to that of trabecular bones, and ultimate compression strength, of from 225 to 70 MPa.