Comparative Studies on Tribocorrosion Behaviour of Plasma-Sprayed and Detonation Gun Coatings of Al_2O_3-13TiO_2 on Biomedical Alloy Ti-13Nb-13Zr and Gum Metal

摘要

The tribocorrosion behavior of titanium-based alloys is of significant interest as bio-implant materials. Bare alloys may not offer enough resistance to tribocorrosion, so coatings could be used to improve their performance. An important biomedical alloy, Ti-13Nb-13Zr, and a newly developed β titanium alloy called "Gum metal" (Ti-23 %Ni-0.7 %Ta-2 %Zr-1 %O_2) were used as substrates in the current work. Both were coated with conventional and nano-ceramic materials of Al_2O_3-TiO_2- Bilayered coatings of ZrO_2+Al_2O_3-13%TiO_2 were also applied to the Ti-13Nb-13Zr using plasma spray. The coatings on Ti-13Nb-13Zr were applied using plasma spray, whereas that on the Gum metal was applied by a detonation gun (D-Gun). Surface morphology was characterized using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Tribocorrosion experiments were performed in salt water using a linear reciprocating ball-on-plate tribometer with an aluminum ball as the slider. The nano particles are embedded in the fully melted splats and offered better crack propagation resistance. The high velocity of the D-Gun process resulted in a higher volume fraction of the embedded nano particles and produced substantial improvement in wear resistance relative to the air-plasma-sprayed coating. The conventional coating, with its higher porosity, exhibited a high corrosion rate compared to nano coating. The D-Gun coating, with its lower porosity, had a higher corrosion resistance than the plasma-sprayed coating, but bilayered plasma-sprayed coating showed even higher corrosion resistance, owing to its dense microstructure. Open-circuit potential measurements before and during tribocorrosion showed that the bilayered plasma-sprayed coating had better tribocorrosion resistance than the other coatings. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy indicated stable impedance values for the bilayered plasma-sprayed coating before and after tribocorrosion.