ORTHOPEDIC PROSTHESIS WITH MODIFIED MICROSTRUCTURE OF TITANIUM ALLOY

摘要

A titanium alloy subjected to thermal treatment followed by quenching. Thethermaltreatment raises the temperature of the alloy to a temperature above thealloy'srecrystallization temperature and below the alloy's beta-transus temperatureto cause a phaseshift within the alloy. After the thermal treatment has been applied for apredetermined time,the alloy is rapidly quenched, preserving the phase shift induced by thethermal treatment.By the present method, the microstructure of the titanium alloy is changedfrom a finegrained alpha-beta phase to a microstructure substantially comprised of anequiaxed alphaphase and an acicular or plate-like alpha phase. The resulting prostheses mayhave amicrostructure including between 25% and 75% percent acicular alpha phase, forexample.