Preparation of Ti–Nb–Ta–Zr alloys for load-bearing biomedical applications

Ti–Nb–Ta–Zr alloys for biomedical applications were successfully fabricated by arc melting (AM) and diffusion bonding. The microstructure, mechanical properties and electrochemistry behavior in a simulated body fluid (SBF) were studied. It shows that melted Ti–Nb–Ta–Zr alloy mainly contains β phase although there are a few Ti-rich phases and micropores, the number of which is lower than that in sintered sample with a few Ti-rich and Ta-rich phases. The melted alloys present higher strength (1224 MPa), Young’s modulus (15.3 GPa) and corrosion potential (− 0.34 V) in SBF, while total recovery strain ratio (67.5%) and pseudoelastic strain ratio (8.4%) of sintered Ti–Nb–Ta–Zr alloy keep higher value than 35.7% and 5.0% for melted Ti–Nb–Ta–Zr. The reasons were discussed based on the microstructure of the Ti–Nb–Ta–Zr alloys.