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Comparison of wear properties of Ti6Al4V fabricated by wrought and electron beam melting processes in simulated body fluids

Dingding Xiang (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Bejing, China, and Singapore Centre for 3D Printing, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore)
Xipeng Tan (Singapore Centre for 3D Printing, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore)
Zhenhua Liao (Key Laboratory of Biomedical Materials and Implant Devices, Research Institute of Tsinghua University in Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China)
Jinmei He (Key Laboratory of Biomedical Materials and Implant Devices, Research Institute of Tsinghua University in Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China)
Zhenjun Zhang (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Bejing, China)
Weiqiang Liu (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Bejing, China, and Key Laboratory of Biomedical Materials and Implant Devices, Research Institute of Tsinghua University in Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China)
Chengcheng Wang (Singapore Centre for 3D Printing, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore)
Beng Tor Shu (Singapore Centre for 3D Printing, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore)

Rapid Prototyping Journal

ISSN: 1355-2546

Article publication date: 3 February 2020

Issue publication date: 19 May 2020

327

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to study the wear properties of electron beam melted Ti6Al4V (EBM-Ti6Al4V) in simulated body fluids for orthopedic implant biomedical applications compared with wrought Ti6Al4V (Wr-Ti6Al4V).

Design/methodology/approach

Wear properties of EBM-Ti6Al4V compared with Wr-Ti6Al4V against ZrO2 and Al2O3 have been investigated under dry friction and the 25 Wt.% newborn calf serum (NCS) lubricated condition using a ball-on-disc apparatus reciprocating motion. The microstructure, composition and hardness of the samples were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction and a hardness tester, respectively. The contact angles with 25 Wt.% NCS were measured by a contact angle apparatus. The wear parameters, wear 2D and 3D morphology were obtained using a 3D white light interferometer and SEM.

Findings

EBM-Ti6Al4V yields a higher contact angle than the Wr-Ti6Al4V with the 25 Wt.% NCS. EBM-Ti6Al4V couplings exhibit lower coefficients of friction compared with the Wr-Ti6Al4V couplings under both conditions. There is only a slight difference in the wear resistance between the Wr-Ti6Al4V and EBM-Ti6Al4V alloys. Both Wr-Ti6Al4V and EBM-Ti6Al4V suffer from similar friction and wear mechanisms, i.e. adhesive and abrasive wear in dry friction, while abrasive wear under the NCS condition. The wear depth and wear volume of the ZrO2 couplings are lower than those of the Al2O3 couplings under both conditions.

Originality/value

This paper helps to establish baseline bio-tribological data of additively manufactured Ti6Al4V by electron beam melting in simulated body fluids for orthopedic applications, which will promote the application of additive manufacturing in producing the orthopedic implant.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2016YFC1102002), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51705336) and the Shenzhen Natural Science Research Project (JCYJ20170816152620649).

Conflict of interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Citation

Xiang, D., Tan, X., Liao, Z., He, J., Zhang, Z., Liu, W., Wang, C. and Shu, B.T. (2020), "Comparison of wear properties of Ti6Al4V fabricated by wrought and electron beam melting processes in simulated body fluids", Rapid Prototyping Journal, Vol. 26 No. 5, pp. 959-969. https://doi.org/10.1108/RPJ-09-2018-0256

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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