Effect of Alloying Elements on the Compressive Mechanical Properties of Biomedical Titanium Alloys: A Systematic Review.

Abstract

Due to problems such as the stress-shielding effect, strength–ductility trade-off dilemma, and use of rare-earth, expensive elements with high melting points in Ti alloys, the need for the design of new Ti alloys for biomedical applications has emerged. This article reports the effect of various alloying elements on the compressive mechanical performance of Ti alloys for biomedical applications for the first time as a systematic review following the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines on this subject. The search strategy in this systematic review used Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed databases and searched the articles using (Beta-type OR β) AND Titanium AND (Mechanical property OR Microstructure) AND Alloying element keywords. Original articles from 2016 to 2022 published in English have been selected for this study as per the inclusion criteria. The results have shown that Nb can be used as the primary alloying element with Ti as it is a strong β-stabilizer element which also reduces the elastic modulus of Ti alloys. The β-eutectic elements (Fe, Cr, and Mn) have also emerged as cost-effective alloying elements that could improve the mechanical performance of Ti alloys. Ti–Nb–Zr–Ta alloyed with Si has shown potential to withstand the strength–ductility trade-off dilemma. The combination of a Ti–Nb binary alloy has emerged as an attractive material for designing low elastic modulus Ti alloys. The mechanical performance of the Ti–Nb alloy can be further improved using the β-eutectic (Fe, Cr, and Mn) and neutral (Zr, Sn) elements to be alloyed with a Ti–Nb binary alloy. The strength–ductility trade-off issue can be overcome using Si as an alloying element in Ti–Nb–Zr–Ta alloys.