Microstructure, mechanical properties and electrochemical behavior of a novel biomedical titanium alloy subjected to thermo-mechanical processing including aging

•A new β metastable titanium alloy with composition of Ti–20.6Nb–13.6Zr–0.5V that comprised of non-toxic elements Nb and Zr with small amount of V has been developed for biomedical applications.•The elastic modulus of the Ti–20.6Nb–13.6Zr–0.5V alloy is as low as (77±1.3) GPa, which is much lower than those of pure Ti and Ti–6Al–4V alloy.•The Ti–20.6Nb–13.6Zr–0.5V alloy has better mechanical biocompatibility after doing a set of thermo-mechanical processing.•Aging treatment led to increase in the hardness, strength, elastic modulus and degrease in elongation.•The Ti–20.6Nb–13.6Zr–0.5 alloy demonstrated spontaneous passivation owing to spontaneously formed oxide film in simulated body fluid (Ringer’s solution). This paper presents the results of a study in which influence of different thermo-mechanical processing (TMP) parameters on the mechanical properties and electrochemical behavior of a new metastable β alloy Ti–20.6Nb–13.6Zr–0.5V (TNZV) was investigated. The TMP comprised of plastic deformation in β phase field (850°C) followed by solution heat treatments at below β transus temperature (650°C) and cooling at various rates in addition to aging. Depending upon the TMP conditions, a wide range of microstructures with varying spatial distributions and morphologies of equiaxed/elongated α, β phases were attained which allowed a wide range of mechanical and electrochemical properties to be achieved. The corrosion behavior of the alloy used in the present study was evaluated in a Ringer’s solution at 37°C using open circuit potential–time and potentiodynamic polarization measurements. The results of the study revealed that amongst different solution treated samples, water quenched (WQ) samples exhibited optimum results of elastic modulus, elongation, corrosion resistance as well as reasonable strength and hence it can be considered to be a potential candidate for biomedical applications.