Dry Sliding Wear Behavior of Experimental Low-Cost Titanium Alloys

The high cost and potential toxicity associated with the common commercial Ti-6Al-4V alloy are major concerns against its continued use in the biomedical industry. Low-cost, less toxic titanium alloys have been developed as a possible alternative to Ti-6Al-4V. Because of the various wear processes that take place in the human body, it is imperative to have a good understanding of the wear properties and wear resistance of these alloys. This study, therefore, investigated the resistance to wear of the low-cost Ti-3Fe, Ti-4.5Al-1V-3Fe, and Ti-4.5Al-1V-3Fe alloys under dry sliding conditions in contrast to the common commercial alloy, Ti-6Al-4V. The findings revealed that among the tested alloys, Ti-3Fe exhibited the lowest resistance to wear as it displayed the highest coefficient of friction (0.55) and wear rate (5.55E-06 mm3/Nm). The Ti-4.5Al-1V-3Fe alloy demonstrated superior wear resistance compared to the rest of the alloys, including Ti-6Al-4V, as it had the lowest wear rate (4.27E-06 mm3/Nm) and wear volume (0.0026 mm3). Overall, the experimental alloys displayed very similar wear resistance to Ti-6Al-4V, making them promising commercial alloys that can replace Ti-6Al-4V in bioimplant applications. Abbreviations: COF: Coefficient of Friction; EDS: Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy; FEG-SEM: Field Emission Gun Scanning Electron Microscopy