Susanne Norgren

Bone response to a novel Ti–Ta–Nb–Zr alloy

Commercially pure titanium (cp-Ti) is regarded as the state-of-the-art material for bone-anchored dental devices, whereas the mechanically stronger alloy (Ti-6Al-4V), made of titanium, aluminum (Al) and vanadium (V), is regarded as the material of choice for high-load applications. There is a call for the development of new alloys, not only to eliminate the potential toxic effect of Al and V but also to meet the challenges imposed on dental and maxillofacial reconstructive devices, for example. The present work evaluates a novel, dual-stage, acid-etched, Ti-Ta-Nb-Zr alloy implant, consisting of elements that create low toxicity, with the potential to promote osseointegration in vivo. The alloy implants (denoted Ti-Ta-Nb-Zr) were evaluated after 7 days and 28 days in a rat tibia model, with reference to commercially pure titanium grade 4 (denoted Ti). Analyses were performed with respect to removal torque, histomorphometry and gene expression. The Ti-Ta-Nb-Zr showed a significant increase in implant stability over time in contrast to the Ti. Further, the histological and gene expression analyses suggested faster healing around the Ti-Ta-Nb-Zr, as judged by the enhanced remodeling, and mineralization, of the early-formed woven bone and the multiple positive correlations between genes denoting inflammation, bone formation and remodeling. Based on the present experiments, it is concluded that the Ti-Ta-Nb-Zr alloy becomes osseointegrated to at least a similar degree to that of pure titanium implants. This alloy is therefore emerging as a novel implant material for clinical evaluation.

On the Solubility of Chromium in Cubic Carbides in WC-Co-MC-Systems

The solubility of Cr in cubic carbides in the systems WC-Co-TaC and WC-Co-ZrC has been determined using equilibrium samples. Thermodynamic calculations were used to design the alloys through extrapolations of Gibbs energy expressions. The alloys were designed to have a microstructure containing the following phases: WC, liquid, M 7 C 3 , graphite and cubic carbide. The samples were equilibrated at 1410 °C. The alloys were investigated using scanning electron microscopy and analyzed using energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry. The present work shows how the Cr solubility depends on which cubic carbide former that is present. The WC-Co-Cr-Zr alloy has no detectable amount of Cr in the cubic carbide, whereas the WC-Co-Cr-Ta alloy has 12 % Cr in the cubic carbide.

Liquid Phase Sintering of (Ti,Zr)C with WC-Co

(Ti,Zr)C powder was sintered with WC-Co following an industrial process, including an isotherm at 1410 °C. A series of interrupted sintering trials was performed with the aim of studying the sintering behavior and the microstructural evolution during both solid-state and liquid-state sintering. Reference samples, using the same elemental compositions but with the starting components TiC and ZrC instead of (Ti,Zr)C, were also sintered. The microstructure was investigated using scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. It is found that the (Ti,Zr)C phase decomposes into Ti-rich and Zr-rich nano-scale lamellae before the liquid-state of the sintering initiates. The final microstructure consists of the binder and WC as well as two different γ phases, rich in either Ti (γ1) or Zr (γ2). The γ2 phase grains have a core-shell structure with a (Ti,Zr)C core following the full sintering cycle. The major differences observed in (Ti,Zr)C with respect to the reference samples after the full sintering cycle were the referred core-shell structure and the carbide grain sizes; additionally, the microstructural evolution during sintering differs. The grain size of carbides (WC, γ1, and γ2) is about 10% smaller in WC-(Ti,Zr)C-Co than WC-TiC-ZrC-Co. The shrinkage behavior and hardness of both composites are reported and discussed.

EBSD study to analyse mechanisms of phase boundary and grain boundary development in WC-Co cemented carbides

ABSTRACT A systematic characterisation of the boundary structure in WC-Co cemented carbides was made as a function of the cobalt content and carbon potential using electron backscattered diffraction technique, with the aim to analyse the mechanisms of WC/Co phase boundary and WC/WC grain boundary development. The fraction of grain boundaries with basal or prismatic habit planes was estimated using a stereological method. Special grain boundaries were classified as a function of the rotation axis between adjacent grains. Although a few special grain boundaries originate from the powder, most grain boundaries form during heat treatment. The development of grain boundaries and phase boundaries during sintering is discussed from the results. The surprising lack of variation in the distribution of boundary types over large changes in volume fraction and composition is particularly commented. Finally, a mechanism of cooperative migration of grain boundaries and phase boundaries is proposed to explain microstructural observations associated with grain growth.