Nanostructured Ti2448 Biomedical Titanium Alloy

Abstract

It is generally accepted that grain refinement by the mechanisms of dislocation interaction, deformation twinning and/or stress-induced martensitic transformation is of relatively low efficiency. Rapid production of nanostructured metallic materials by conventional processing technologies remains a challenge. A new mechanism of fast grain refinement, through highly localized plastic deformation, was recently found in a -type biomedical titanium alloy (Ti2448). This mechanism leads to rapid grain refinement to tens nanometers and even amorphous transition during conventional cold processing. Since such grain refinement induces little strengthening, this process was previously termed soft nanostructuring. Here we review the research into this new way of nanostructuring and discuss the mechanism of grain refinement as well as dispersion strengthening of Ti2448 alloy by the precipitation of a second phase from the nano-sized  matrix.