Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters) ›› 2017, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (11): 1089-1099.DOI: 10.1007/s40195-017-0652-x

• Orginal Article • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effect of Replacing Vanadium by Niobium and Iron on the Tribological Behavior of HIPed Titanium Alloys

Mamoun Fellah1,2,*(), Linda Aissani2,3, Mohammed Abdul Samad4, Alain Iost5, Touhami Mohamed Zine2, Alex Montagne5, Corinne Nouveau6   

  1. 1 Mechanical Engineering Department, ABBES Laghrour University, P.O. 1252, 40004 Khenchela, Algeria
    2 Tribology, Materials Surface and Interfaces Group, Laboratory of Foundry, BADJI Mokhtar University, BO 12, CP 23000 Annaba, Algeria
    3 Physics Department, ABBES Laghrour University, P.O. 1252, 40004 Khenchela, Algeria
    4 Mechanical Engineering Department, KFUPM, Box 1180, Dhahran 31261, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
    5 Laboratory of Mechanics Surfaces and Processing Materials, ARTS ET METIERS ParisTech, Boulevard Louis XIV 8, 59046 Lille Cedex, France
    6 La.Bo.Ma.P, ENSAM, Rue Porte de Paris, 71250 Cluny, France
  • Received:2017-09-21 Revised:2017-09-21 Online:2017-11-20 Published:2018-01-30
  • Contact: Fellah Mamoun

Abstract:

This study aims to examine the effect of replacing vanadium by niobium and iron on the tribological behavior of hot-isostatic-pressed titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) biomaterial, using a ball-on-disk-type oscillating tribometer, under wet conditions using physiological solution in accordance with the ISO7148 standards. The tests were carried out under a normal load of 6 N, with an AISI 52100 grade steel ball as a counter face. The morphological changes and structural evolution of the nanoparticle powders using different milling times (2, 6, 12 and 18 h) were studied. The morphological characterization indicated that the particle and crystallite size continuously decrease with increasing milling time to reach the lowest value of 4 nm at 18-h milling. The friction coefficient and wear rate were lower in the samples milled at 18 h (0.226, 0.297 and 0.423; and 0.66 × 10-2, 0.87 × 10-2 and 1.51 × 10-2 μm3 N-1 μm-1) for Ti-6Al-4Fe, Ti-6Al-7Nb and Ti-6Al-4V, respectively. This improvement in friction and wear resistance is attributed to the grain refinement at 18-h milling. The Ti-6Al-4Fe samples showed good tribological performance for all milling times.

Key words: Tribological behavior, Titanium alloys, Wear testing, Nanotribology, Milling time, Hot isostatic pressing (HIPing)