Grain characteristics and mechanical properties of bioinert Ti-40 wt. % Nb alloy

This paper focuses on the development of the microstructure and mechanical properties of bioinert Ti-40 wt.% Nb alloy after severe plastic deformation. Primary Ti40Nb cast billets were exposed to a combined two-stage severe plastic deformation method, including abc-pressing and multi-pass rolling in grooved rollers. It was proved that a relatively large amount of micron grains and subgrains were produced from the alloy through severe plastic deformation (SPD) method. Local shear zone, twins and low-angle grain boundaries were created in meantime. The misorientation angles of less than 6.45° constitutes 53.8 % of the alloy. SPD method intensified the formation of ultrafine-grained structure in Ti40Nb billet bulk with average element size of 0.3 µm. This, in its turn, improved the material strength. Microhardness of the alloy increased from 1730 MPa to 3000 MPa.