RESEARCH ARTICLE
Enhancing the Properties of Ti6Al4V as a Biomedical Material: A Review
V.E. Annamalai*, S. Kavitha, Sarah Ann Ramji
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2014Volume: 8
First Page: 1
Last Page: 17
Publisher Id: TOMSJ-8-1
DOI: 10.2174/1874088X01408010001
Article History:
Received Date: 25/9/2013Revision Received Date: 3/4/2014
Acceptance Date: 7/4/2014
Electronic publication date: 16/5/2014
Collection year: 2014
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
The alloy Ti6Al4V has evolved as a good biomedical material, by virtue of its bio-compatibility. In order to make implants out of this material, it has to be shaped and processed. Shaping this material by conventional manufacturing methods like machining, welding and brazing presents a huge challenge. This challenge has been met by various approaches like additive manufacturing, surface alloying and heat treatment. Additive manufacturing processes are used for shaping; coatings and surface alloying are used for property improvement; heat treatment is used for improving the machinability. The processing method has an impact on the final properties of the product. This review attempts to trace the development of methods and practices for converting Ti6Al4V into a useful material for biomedical applications.