Wear characterisation of additively manufactured Ti6Al4V for patient-specific joint implant applications

¹ Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
² Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, University of Leeds, United Kingdom
³ Centre for Materials Engineering, University of Cape Town, South Africa

^* Corresponding author: 25734563@sun.ac.za

Abstract

This study uses multidirectional pin-on-plate wear testing to present a pre-clinical wear assessment of additively manufactured (AM) Ti6Al4V with ASTM F732 guided testing conditions. Wear assessment of moderately cross-linked polyethylene against a boost diffusion heat treatment on AM Ti6Al4V was explored and compared to the wear against wrought untreated Ti6Al4V. Results indicate that boost-diffused AM Ti6Al4V exhibits trends consistent with existing literature on other widely used material pairs. However, further surface characterisation is required to understand the reported wear rates. Most notably, the articulating surface of the boost-diffused Ti6Al4V showed a reduction in mean surface roughness over the duration of the study and the inverse trend for the wrought untreated Ti6Al4V for which the surface roughness increased due to scratching. Thus, the need for a surface hardening heat treatment, such as boost diffusion when using AM Ti6Al4V within a biotribology setting is emphasised.