Study on improved tribological properties by alloying copper to CP-Ti and Ti-6Al-4V alloy

Song Wang; Zheng Ma; Zhenhua Liao; Jian Song; Ke Yang; Weiqiang Liu

doi:10.1016/j.msec.2015.07.046

Study on improved tribological properties by alloying copper to CP-Ti and Ti-6Al-4V alloy

Mater Sci Eng C Mater Biol Appl. 2015 Dec 1:57:123-32. doi: 10.1016/j.msec.2015.07.046. Epub 2015 Jul 29.

Authors

Song Wang¹, Zheng Ma², Zhenhua Liao³, Jian Song⁴, Ke Yang², Weiqiang Liu⁵

Affiliations

¹ Biomechanics and Biotechnology Lab, Research Institute of Tsinghua University in Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518057, PR China; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China.
² Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Science, Shenyang 110016, PR China.
³ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China; Biomechanics and Biotechnology Lab, Research Institute of Tsinghua University in Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518057, PR China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Tribology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China.
⁵ Biomechanics and Biotechnology Lab, Research Institute of Tsinghua University in Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518057, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Tribology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China. Electronic address: weiqliu@hotmail.com.

PMID: 26354247
DOI: 10.1016/j.msec.2015.07.046

Abstract

Copper alloying to titanium and its alloys is believed to show an antibacterial performance. However, the tribological properties of Cu alloyed titanium alloys were seldom studied. Ti-5Cu and Ti-6Al-4V-5Cu alloys were fabricated in the present study in order to further study the friction and wear properties of titanium alloys with Cu additive. The microstructure, composition and hardness were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and hardness tester. The tribological behaviors were tested with ZrO2 counterface in 25% bovine serum using a ball-on-disc tribo-tester. The results revealed that precipitations of Ti2Cu intermetallic compounds appeared in both Ti-5Cu and Ti-6Al-4V-5Cu alloys. The tribological results showed an improvement in friction and wear resistance for both Ti-5Cu and Ti-6Al-4V-5Cu alloys due to the precipitation of Ti2Cu. The results also indicated that both CP-Ti and Ti-5Cu behaved better wear resistance than Ti-6Al-4V and Ti-6Al-4V-5Cu due to different wear mechanisms when articulated with hard zirconia. Both CP-Ti and Ti-5Cu revealed dominant adhesive wear with secondary abrasive wear mechanism while both Ti-6Al-4V and Ti-6Al-4V-5Cu showed severe abrasive wear and cracks with secondary adhesive wear mechanism due to different surface hardness integrated by their microstructures and material types.

Keywords: Friction; Ti–6Al–4V–Cu alloy; Ti–Cu alloy; Tribological properties; Wear resistance.

Publication types

Comparative Study
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adhesiveness
Alloys / chemistry
Bone Substitutes / chemistry*
Copper / chemistry*
Friction
Lubrication
Materials Testing
Surface Properties
Titanium / chemistry*

Substances

Alloys
Bone Substitutes
titanium alloy (TiAl6V4)
Copper
Titanium