Experimental clarification of the cyclic deformation mechanisms of β-type Ti–Nb–Ta–Zr-alloy single crystals developed for the single-crystalline implant

Abstract

Quaternary Ti–Nb–Ta–Zr (TNTZ) type β-Ti alloys with a body-centered cubic (bcc) structure have been of great interest as new implant biomaterials for bone replacement. Recently, we have proposed a “single crystalline β-Ti implant” as a novel hard-tissue replacement to suppress the stress shielding to bone after healing. To develop this, the fatigue properties and its controlling mechanisms of the TNTZ single crystals must be clarified. In this study, we focused on three alloys: Ti–25Nb–10Ta–5Zr(25Nb), Ti–29Nb–13Ta–4.6Zr(29Nb), and Ti–35Nb–10Ta–5Zr(35Nb) (mass%), and the cyclic deformation behaviors were examined using their single crystals. The shapes of the hysteresis loops were significantly different for these alloys, which was ascribed to the operation of different deformation modes: stress-induced α”-martensite (α”-SIM), {332}<113> twinning, and {101}<111> slip in the 25Nb, 29Nb, and 35Nb alloys, respectively. The hysteresis loops during cyclic deformation exhibited very irregular shapes for 25Nb and 29Nb, accompanied by a flow-stress asymmetry in tension and compression. This was caused by the polarized feature on the formation of them in tension and compression. In addition, the apparent yield stress in a hysteresis loop greatly decreased after the second cycle, owing to the reversible motion of the interfaces of the SIM and {332} twins by altering the direction of the applied stress. Although the cyclic deformation behavior was controlled by a similar mechanism in them, 29Nb was found to exhibit a much shorter fatigue life than 25Nb. This is because of the difference in the decreasing tendency of the reversibility for the SIM and {332} twins as cyclic deformation proceeded. The obtained results demonstrate that the controls of their asymmetric features and the reversible motion are the important factors to develop these alloys as a practical “single crystalline β-Ti implant”.