Studies on the corrosion and wear behavior of the laser nitrided biomedical titanium and its alloys

The effects of laser nitriding on surface hardness, corrosion and wear behavior of the conventional biomedical implants such as commercially available pure titanium and Ti-13Nb-13Zr alloy is reported. The influence of alloying elements such as Zr and Nb on nitride formation was also studied by nitriding the newly developed alloy (Ti-13Nb-13Zr). The surface modified samples were characterized using optical microscope (OM), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. Corrosion rate, wear rate and coefficient of friction were made under simulated body condition for commercially available pure titanium and Ti-13Nb-13Zr alloy. The high speed processing of these alloys enabled smooth and crack free surface. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.