Preparation and characterization of Ti-50Nb-XMo alloys for biomedical applications

Full text: Alloys composed of titanium, molybdenum and niobium integrate a new class of titanium alloys without the presence of aluminum and vanadium (which exhibit cytotoxicity) and have low values of Young modulus (below 100 GPa). This occurs because these alloys possess beta structure, very attractive for use as biomaterials. In this type of alloys, the processing variables can be more easily controlled in relation to alloys with alpha and alpha-beta structure, aiming to obtain improved properties such as lower elasticity modulus, increased corrosion resistance and better bone response. Moreover, Brazil has about 90% of world niobium resources, being very important economically and strategically, to invest in research for development and processing of alloys containing this element. The objective of this work is the preparation and characterization of alloys of the Ti-50Nb-XMo system, in order to understand its structure and properties. The used samples are titanium containing 50% in weight of niobium and several contents of molybdenum. The samples were produced by arc melting in argon atmosphere, using commercial titanium and molybdenum, and niobium produced by CBMM.After melting, the samples were characterized by chemical analysis, density, microhardness, X-ray diffraction and, optical microscopy. The X-ray patterns showed peaks that characterize the bcc structure, typical of the beta phase of the alloy. The microscopy results confirmed the X-ray diffractograms, showing structures characteristics of the beta phase of the alloy. (author)