A metastable β-type Ti–Nb binary alloy with low modulus and high strength

With the assistance of thermo-mechanical treatment, an attempt was made to fabricate a simple binary Ti–38Nb (wt.%) alloy with low modulus and high strength. The martensitic transformation from β to α″ occurred in the solution-treated Ti–38Nb alloy, resulting in low yield strength. Upon a cold rolling plus annealing at 673K for 40min, a lot of dislocations and grain boundaries were introduced in the Ti–38Nb alloy, which played key roles in inhibiting the martensitic transformation and retarding the precipitation of ω. Therefore, overwhelming β phase with low content of β-stabilizers can survive at room temperature, giving rise to a low modulus of 56GPa. Meanwhile, the Ti–38Nb alloy was remarkably reinforced, with a yield strength of 850MPa and a ultimate tensile strength of 1020MPa, because of the inhibition of α″ martensitic transformation. As a result, the cold rolled plus annealed Ti–38Nb alloy can exhibit higher strength-to-modulus ratio than those of the current implant materials and thereby has high potential applications in hard tissue replacements.