Microstructural evolution, mechanical properties, and preosteoblast cell response of a post-processing-treated TNT5Zr β Ti alloy manufactured via selective laser melting

Kong, W., Cox, S. C., Lu, Y., Villapun, V., Xiao, X., Ma, W., Liu, M. and Attallah, M. M. (2022) Microstructural evolution, mechanical properties, and preosteoblast cell response of a post-processing-treated TNT5Zr β Ti alloy manufactured via selective laser melting. ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering, 8(6), pp. 2336-2348. (doi: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.1c01277)

Abstract

A Ti–34Nb–13Ta–5Zr (TNT5Zr) β Ti alloy with a high strength-to-modulus ratio has been developed, showing its potential to become another candidate material in load-bearing implant applications. This work mainly investigates the microstructural evolution, mechanical properties, and biocompatibility of a post-processing-treated TNT5Zr alloy manufactured via selective laser melting (SLM). Transmission electron microscopy observation shows the existence of the single beta grain matrix and alpha precipitates along the grain boundary in the SLM + HIP manufactured TNT5Zr alloy (TNT5Zr-AF + HIP), and ellipsoidal nano-sized intragranular α″ precipitates (approx. 5–10 nm) were introduced after the subsequent low-temperature aging treatment. The precipitation strengthening enables the SLM + HIP + aging manufactured TNT5Zr (TNT5Zr-AF + HIPA) alloy to show a comparable ultimate tensile strength (853 ± 9 MPa) to that of the reference material (Ti64-AF + HIP, 926 ± 23 MPa). Including the inferior notch-like surface of the test pieces, the slip-band cracking that occurs in this ductile TNT5Zr-AF + HIPA alloy is regarded as the main factor in determining its fatigue strength (170 MPa). In vitro short-term biocompatibility evaluation reveals almost no significant difference in the preosteoblast viability, differentiation, and mineralization between TNT5Zr-AF + HIPA and the reference biomaterial (Ti64-AF + HIP).

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Kong, Dr Weihuan
• Authors: Kong, W., Cox, S. C., Lu, Y., Villapun, V., Xiao, X., Ma, W., Liu, M., and Attallah, M. M.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Systems Power and Energy
• Journal Name: ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering
• Publisher: American Chemical Society
• ISSN: 2373-9878
• ISSN (Online): 2373-9878
• Published Online: 10 May 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 The Authors
• First Published: First published in ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering 8(6):2336-2348
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence