Study of the production of Ti-13Nb-13Zr powder from the solid melted alloy using high energy ball milling

J. L. Minatti, M. V. Agnesini, D. L. de Matos, S. G. Schneider, D. Rodrigues Jr. Departamento de Engenharia de Materiais (DEMAR) Escola de Engenharia de Lorena (EEL-USP), Lorena, SP, Brazil 12600-970 Among the metallic biomaterials, the Ti-Nb-Zr alloys are important because their good biocompatibility, high corrosion resistance, superior mechanical properties and lower elastic moduli. Recently, our group seeks to produce materials with controlled porosity by powder metallurgy, because this condition will probably allow better osseointegration, besides the lower modulus of elasticity of these materials. However, problems were observed in chemical homogeneity related to the wide dispersion in particle sizes of the precursor metals to fabricate the alloys. The high energy ball milling is a suitable alternative for the homogeneous mixture of compounds into the stoichiometry and microstructure of fine grains, desired for specific applications. This work presents a study on the effect of high energy ball milling during the processing of Ti-13Nb-13Zr chips into powder. The samples were analyzed by Xray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM + EDS), verifying the particle sizes and the formation and evolution of phases with the milling time. Keywords: biomaterials, titanium alloys, scaffolds, powder metallurgy, high energy ball milling. Work supported by FAPESP and CNPq (Brazil). [1] Goia, T.S. 18 CBECiMat, 24 a 28 de Novembro de 2008, Porto de Galinhas, PE, Brasil. [2] Bottino MCM. Estudo da Osteointegraoda liga Ti-13Nb-13Zr obtida por metalurgia do p com diferentes graus de porosidade, Dissertation, IPEN; So Paulo 2005. [3] Suryanarayana, C. Progress in Materials Science, 46, p. 1-184 (2001). Corresponding author: jlminatti@demar.eel.usp.br