Microstructure and mechanical properties of hot rolled TiNbSn alloys

Titanium alloys with lower elastic modulus and free from toxic elements such as Al and V have been studied for biomedical matters. Ti-Nb-Sn alloys showed up as presenting great potential for the aforementioned purpose. The current study got Ti-35Nb-XSn alloys (x = 2.5; 5.0; 7.5) by applying the following techniques: arc melting, homogenizing and cooling in furnace, homogenizing and water quenched, hot rolling and water quenched. According to each step of the study, the microstructures were featured by means of optical microscopy, by applying a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis as well as Xray diffraction. The mechanical properties were gotten by means of: Vickers microhardness, tensile and ultrasonic tests. Their ratio between tensile strength and elastic modulus as well as the ductility were compared to other biomedical alloys already available in the literature. The mechanical behavior of the Ti-Nb alloys directly depends on the Sn rates that constitutes the phases as well as on the thermomechanical background to which the alloy was submitted to. The hot rolled Ti-35Nb-2.5Sn alloy showed high ratio between strength and elastic modulus as well as high ductility, just as high as those of some cold rolled Ti alloys. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.