Microstructure, mechanical properties and electrochemical behavior of a novel biomedical titanium alloy subjected to thermo-mechanical processing including aging

This paper presents the results of a study in which influence of different thermo-mechanical processing (TMP) parameters on the mechanical properties and electrochemical behavior of a new metastable β alloy Ti-20.6Nb-13.6Zr-0.5V (TNZV) was investigated. The TMP comprised of plastic deformation in β phase field (850 °C) followed by solution heat treatments at below β transus temperature (650 °C) and cooling at various rates in addition to aging. Depending upon the TMP conditions, a wide range of microstructures with varying spatial distributions and morphologies of equiaxed/elongated α, β phases were attained which allowed a wide range of mechanical and electrochemical properties to be achieved. The corrosion behavior of the alloy used in the present study was evaluated in a Ringer's solution at 37 °C using open circuit potential-time and potentiodynamic polarization measurements. The results of the study revealed that amongst different solution treated samples, water quenched (WQ) samples exhibited optimum results of elastic modulus, elongation, corrosion resistance as well as reasonable strength and hence it can be considered to be a potential candidate for biomedical applications.