MICROSTUCTURAL EVALUATION AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF SOLUTION TREATED BIOMEDICAL TNTZ ALLOY

A new titanium alloy, TNTZ ( Ti-29Nb-13Ta-4.6Zr) composed of nontoxic elements like Nb, Ta,and Zr, has been developed to achieve a lower Young’s modulus (near to that of human hard tissues) along with superior mechanical properties to be used in biomedical applications. The present work dealswith the microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of the TNTZ alloy subjected to solution treatment followed by cooling via different environments of liquid nitrogen, oil, water, static air, vacuum furnace. The highest hardness values were achieved by liquid nitrogen quenching because of excessive αʺ martensite formation and subsequently the distortion of the prior beta matrix. In addition, furnace cooled specimen due to ω precipitation indicated a higher hardness value than that of water quenched, air cooled, and oil quenched specimens. The related microstructural evolutions were properly addressed using x-ray diffraction and optical microscopy methods

Keywords:

TNTZ biomedical alloy , Liquid Nitrogen quench , Furnace cooling , Martensite formation