J Mater Sci Technol ›› 2002, Vol. 18 ›› Issue (05): 387-391.

• Research Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Stress Corrosion Crack Growth Behavior of Titanium Alloy/Bioactive Glasses Sandwiches in Simulated Human Physiological Environment

Da CHEN,J.M.McNaney, E.Saiz, A.P.Tomsia, R.O.Ritchie   

  1. Department of Materials Science, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, China...
  • Received:2001-09-18 Revised:2002-01-06 Online:2002-09-28 Published:2009-10-10
  • Contact: Da CHEN

Abstract: Based on a series of newly developed bioactive glasses having suitable thermo-mechanical properties to allow application as fixation agents between bone and titanium alloy biomedical implants, the stress corrosion crack growth (SCCG) behavior of their interfaces with Ti6Al4V was investigated in simulated body fluid (SBF) with the objective of discerning the salient mechanisms of crack advance and to assess the reliability of the bonds. Results indicated that crack growth rates in Ti6Al4V/glass/Ti6Al4V sandwich specimens were nearly the same as or slightly lower than those in the bulk glasses at comparable stress intensities; indeed, cracks would prefer to propagate off the interface,suggesting that the Ti6Al4V/glass interface has relatively good crack-growth resistance. Mechanistically, interfacial crack growth appears to be controlled by the classic stress corrosion mechanisms for silicate glasses, with no discernible effect of bioactivity on the SCCG behavior being observed.

Key words: Stress corrosion, Titanium alloy, Bioactive glass, Crack growth