Ion-Modified Nanostructured Titanium and Zirconium Alloys for Medicine and Industry

Abstract

The effect of combined treatment consisting of severe plastic deformation and ion beam treatment on structure and tribological properties of titanium, zirconium and "Zr - 2,5 % Nb" alloy was investigated. It was shown that formation of ultrafine-grained structure in titanium and zirconium alloys produced by severe plastic deformation results in sufficient increase in materials hardness in 1,6-2 times. Ion modification of deformed titanium and zirconium based alloys ensures further enhancement of surface microhardness up to 3500-3700 MPa, improvement of wear resistance of materials up to 30 times and reduction of friction coefficient by 50 %. Based on the results obtained it was shown that Ti- and Zr-based alloys processed by combined treatment consisting of severe plastic deformation and ion-beam nitriding may be regarded as a promising materials for production of biocompatible high-loaded orthopedic implants.

Keywords

• titanium and zirconium alloys
• intensive plastic deformation
• ion-beam nitriding
• tribotechnical properties