Abstract
Titanium and its alloys have been employed in the biomedical industry as implants and show promise for more broad applications because of their excellent mechanical properties and low density. However, high cost, poor wear properties, low hardness and associated side effects caused by leaching of alloy elements in some titanium alloys has been the bottleneck to their wide application. TiB reinforcement has shown promise as both a surface coating for Ti implants and also as a composite reinforcement phase. In this study, a low-cost TiB-reinforced alpha titanium matrix composite (TMC) is developed. The composite microstructure includes ultrahigh aspect ratio TiB nanowhiskers with a length up to 23 μm and aspect ratio of 400 and a low average Ti grain size. TiB nanowhiskers are formed in situ by the reaction between Ti and BN nanopowder. The TMC exhibited hardness of above 10.4 GPa, elastic modulus above 165 GPa and hardness to Young’s modulus ratio of 0.062 representing 304%, 170% and 180% increases in hardness, modulus and hardness to modulus ratio, respectively, when compared to commercially pure titanium. The TiB nanowhisker-reinforced TMC has good biocompatibility and shows excellent mechanical properties for biomedical implant applications.
Highlights
As our population ages the need for effective bone implants as treatments for arthritis and other joint-related pain is of growing importance [1,2]
We demonstrate a cost-effective method to manufacture high aspect ratio TiB nanowhisker reinforced titanium matrix composite (TMC) for load bearing biomedical applications, with mechanical properties investigated by nanoindentation
Overcoming these challenges is a critical improvement for the development of affordable long-lasting biomedical implants to reduce the number of replacement surgeries required
Summary
As our population ages the need for effective bone implants as treatments for arthritis and other joint-related pain is of growing importance [1,2]. Current projections indicate that in the United States replacement surgery for hips and knee arthroplasties will increase by over 600% to more than 4 million operations by 2030 [3]. Many of these surgeries arise due to failure of the original implant and need for a second replacement surgery which can lead to several associated health concerns. A Ti-based material that retains the aforementioned strengths in biocompatibility and corrosion performance with increased hardness and wear resistance will be a strong candidate as an implant material
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