Effects of High-Pressure Torsion on Mechanical Properties of Biocompatible Ti-6Al-7Nb Alloy

Ti-6Al-7Nb alloys have been widely used in the medical field, particularly in artificial hip joints, spinal fixators, and dental implants, owing to their light weight, low toxicity, and superior corrosion resistance. Grain refinement through a severe plastic deformation process under high pressure, such as high-pressure torsion (HPT) or high-pressure sliding, is widely employed for strengthening metallic materials. This overview presents the recent advances in the effect of HPT on the mechanical properties of the Ti-6Al-7Nb alloy. This alloy was grain-refined through HPT under applied pressures of 2 and 6 GPa, and the results revealed that the alloy subjected to HPT processing at 6 GPa exhibited a higher strength. To inhibit the decrease in the total elongation of the alloy, the number of revolutions in the HPT process was set to moderate. The tensile properties achieved after HPT processing were found to be dependent on the initial microstructure before the HPT treatment. Furthermore, an alloy with a bimodal equiaxed and acicular structure was subjected to grain refinement via the HPT process. The results revealed that fragmentation of the acicular structure during HPT further increased the strength. Moreover, the HPT-processed Ti-6Al-7Nb alloy exhibited superplasticity. It was thus confirmed that grain refinement by HPT is an effective method for strengthening the Ti-6Al-7Nb alloy, which is advantageous for medical applications.