Surface Properties of Titanium Alloys Grit Blasted at Various Particle Impingement Angles

Abstract

Grit blasting has been used to tailor the surface properties of specifically biomaterials for the last decades. It utilizes repeatedly impacts of erodent particles to tailor the surface roughness of biomaterials for improving their biocompatibility and adhesion strength. Titanium alloys, specifically Ti6Al4V alloy, have been prevalently used as biomaterials and are generally subjected to grit blasting to improve surface properties. In this study, the effects of particle impingement angle, which is widely reported as an important operation parameter in grit blasting, on the 3D surface topography and areal surface roughness of titanium alloys have been investigated in detail. Ti6Al4V alloy specimens were grit blasted by garnet particles (20-40 mesh) under constant particle blasting pressure (1.5 bar) at various particle impingement angles (15°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 75°, and 90°). The surface properties of grit blasted Ti6Al4V alloy; the areal surface roughness values and the 3D surface topographies were obtained by a 3D optical microscope and scanning electron microscopy analyses were also carried out to investigate the surface morphologies. The results show that particle impingement angle significantly affected the surface properties of Ti6Al4V alloy, the areal surface roughness values and the surface morphologies dramatically varied depending on the impingement angle.