Improved wear resistance of functional diamond like carbon coated Ti-6Al-4V alloys in an edge loading conditions

Dipankar Choudhury; Jürgen M Lackner; Lukasz Major; Takehiro Morita; Yoshinori Sawae; Azuddin Bin Mamat; Ian Stavness; Chanchal K Roy; Ivan Krupka

doi:10.1016/j.jmbbm.2016.04.004

Improved wear resistance of functional diamond like carbon coated Ti-6Al-4V alloys in an edge loading conditions

J Mech Behav Biomed Mater. 2016 Jun:59:586-595. doi: 10.1016/j.jmbbm.2016.04.004. Epub 2016 Apr 9.

Authors

Dipankar Choudhury¹, Jürgen M Lackner², Lukasz Major³, Takehiro Morita⁴, Yoshinori Sawae⁵, Azuddin Bin Mamat⁶, Ian Stavness⁷, Chanchal K Roy⁷, Ivan Krupka⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Computer Science, University of Saskatchewan, 176 Thorvaldson Building, 110 Science Place, Saskatoon, SK, Canada S7N 5C9; Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Brno University of Technology, Technicka 2896/2, 616 69 Brno, Czech Republic. Electronic address: Dipankar.choudhury78@gmail.com.
² JOANNEUM RESEARCH Forschungsgesellschaft mbH, Institute of Surface Technologies and Photonics, Functional Surfaces, Leobner Strasse 94, A-8712 Niklasdorf, Austria.
³ Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute for Metallurgy and Materials Sciences, ul. Reymonta 25, 30-059 Krakow, Poland.
⁴ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kyushu University, 744 Motooka, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan.
⁵ Research Center for Advanced Biomechanics, Kyushu University, 744 Motooka, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
⁶ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
⁷ Department of Computer Science, University of Saskatchewan, 176 Thorvaldson Building, 110 Science Place, Saskatoon, SK, Canada S7N 5C9.
⁸ Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Brno University of Technology, Technicka 2896/2, 616 69 Brno, Czech Republic; CEITEC-Central European Institute of Technology, Brno University of Technology, Technicka 3058/10, 616 00 Brno, Czech Republic.

PMID: 27085502
DOI: 10.1016/j.jmbbm.2016.04.004

Abstract

This study investigates the durability of functional diamond-like carbon (DLC) coated titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) under edge loading conditions for application in artificial hip joints. The multilayered (ML) functional DLC coatings consist of three key layers, each of these layers were designed for specific functions such as increasing fracture strength, adapting stress generation and enhancing wear resistance. A 'ball-on-disk' multi-directional wear tester was used in the durability test. Prior to the wear testing, surface hardness, modulus elasticity and Raman intensity were measured. The results revealed a significant wear reduction to the DLC coated Ti-6Al-4V disks compared to that of non-coated Ti-6Al-4V disks. Remarkably, the counterpart Silicon Nitride (Si3N4) balls also yielded lowered specific wear rate while rubbed against the coated disks. Hence, the pairing of a functional multilayered DLC and Si3N4 could be a potential candidate to orthopedics implants, which would perform a longer life-cycle against wear caused by edge loading.

Keywords: Edge loading; Functional diamond-like carbon; Orthopedics implant; Silicon nitride; Wear resistance.

MeSH terms

Alloys
Carbon
Diamond / chemistry*
Hip Prosthesis*
Humans
Materials Testing*
Prosthesis Design
Surface Properties
Titanium / chemistry*

Substances

Alloys
titanium alloy (TiAl6V4)
Carbon
Diamond
Titanium