Fabrication and Biomaterial Characteristics of HA added Ti-Nb-HA Composite Fabricated by Rapid Sintering

Ti-6Al-4V extra low interstitial (ELI) alloy has been widely used as an orthopedic implant material because of its excellent biocompatibility, corrosion resistance and mechanical properties. However, V-free titanium alloys such as Ti-6%Al-7%Nb and Ti-5%Al-2.5%Fe have recently been developed because of the toxicity of V. Hydroxyapatite (HA) is used as a coating material on Ti or Ti biomaterials due to its good biocompatibility. However, HA coated on Ti alloy causes a problem for tissue by peeling off during usage. Therefore, such peeling off during long time usage can be suppressed by adding HA in Ti or Ti alloy composites. The aim of this study was to manufacture an ultra fine grained (UFG) Ti-Nb-HA bulk alloy, which is usually difficult to fabricate using melting and casting technology, by rapid sintering process using high energy mechanical milled (HEMM) powder. (Received July 27, 2011)