Effect of Nb Content and water quenching on microstructure and mechanical properties of Ti-Nb alloys fabricated by spark plasma sintering

Abstract

Titanium-niobium (Ti-Nb) alloys have been extensively studied for medical implants due to their advantageous mechanical properties and biocompatibility. However, the stress shielding effect remains a challenge. This research investigated the effects of Nb content and enhancement of α ′′ formation on the mechanical properties of Ti-xNb alloys (x = 0, 5, 15 and 25%) fabricated by spark plasma sintering. Water quenching from the β phase induced α ′′ phase formation in Ti-5Nb and Ti-15Nb samples, thereby reducing their Young's modulus values but was not observed in commercially pure titanium (CP-Ti) and Ti-25Nb. Results showed that heat treatment with water quenching induced α ′′ phase formation and can be used to tailor the properties of Ti-Nb alloys fabricated by SPS. This technique can also be used to enhance material ductility at high β-stabilizer content, as observed in Ti-25Nb samples.

Evaluation of Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of a Ti10Mo8Nb Alloy for Biomedical Applications

“…However, it is lower than CP Ti and Ti6Al4V alloy, which was considered in the recent past an applicable alloy for biomedical applications. Mo and Nb alloying elements added to titanium are classified as β-phase stabilizers, which is identified as the phase with the lowest modulus of elasticity among the existing phases in titanium alloys [19,24,26,28]. From Table 1, it is also possible to observe that the Ti7.5Mo alloy (α-phase) exhibits the lowest elastic modulus value.…”

“…Tensile test was managed in order to compare the mechanical properties of the Ti10Mo8Nb alloy with commercially pure (CP) Ti, Ti7.5Mo, Ti15Mo and Ti6Al4V. The test responses are critical for the development of biomedical implants due to the body load applied [24]. Five cylindrical tensile specimens were machined from Ti10Mo8Nb alloy in accordance with ASTM 638 EM.…”

“…Suresh S. et al (2022) studied the effect of the concentration of niobium, molybdenum and chromium in titanium alloys, identifying that the porosity of the material is reduced and its mechanical properties improved with the addition of 8% Nb and 3% Mo-Cr to the alloy [23]. Suesawadwanid N. et al (2022) investigated ways to improve the stress shielding effect on medical implants and observed that the ductility of the alloys was increased for high stabilizing β insertion, as in tests with Ti25Nb [24]. The results presented in the literature, however, are still limited to the correlation of the effects of different concentrations of stabilizing β elements on the material's microstructure and, consequently, on its properties.…”

Behavior of Different β Stabilizers on the Microstructure and Properties of Ternary Ti‐3Sn‐X Alloys

“…Moreover, the Ti-3Sn-Mo alloys have finer microstructural features in comparison to Ti-3Sn-Nb alloys Figure 10. Comparison of the mechanical properties of the Ti-3Sn-X alloys (X = Nb, Mo, Mn) with other Ti alloys bearing Sn, Nb, Mo, and Mn as alloying elements: [13,18,21,[37][38][39][40][41] a) UTS versus elongation and b) YS versus hardness.…”

“…The highlighted differences derive from the type of manufacturing route used as well as the actual composition of each specific alloy. In particular, binary Ti-(2.5-7.5)Sn, [13] Ti-(15-25)Nb, [37] Ti-(8.7-15)Mo, [38] Ti-(1-14) Mn, [18,39,40] ternary Ti-(10.8-26.7)Nb-(9.2-10.8)Mo, [41] and Ti-(2)Sn-(2-4)Mn [21] alloys were used for the sake of comparison. In general, the higher the amount of alloying elements the higher the strength and the lower the ductility, and alloys obtained via powder metallurgy show better ductility than those manufactured via casting.…”