Degradation Resistance and Wear Behavior of Ti-6al-4v as Dental Bio-Medical Implant Under Double Thermal Ageing Process

This research work evaluates the degradation and wear resistance of Ti-6Al-4V as a dental implant in artificial saliva at varying aging times. The as-received samples were cut into 15mm × 13mm × 3mm and they were solution heat-treated at 9800C, soaked for 1hour, followed by aging at a temperature of 4600C for varying aging times of 2 to 8 hours. The corrosion and wear tests were then conducted. The minimum wear rates of 0.01146 mm3/N/m and 0.01537 mm3/N/m were obtained at 4 and 8N loading respectively after an aging time of 8 hrs while the control samples showed wear rates of 0.01666 mm3/N/m and 0.0271mm3/N/m at 4 and 8N loadings respectively. The worn surface and corroded samples were observed under both optical and scanning electron microscopes. The corroded sample after 8 hours of aging time under SEM was seen to be less damaged compared to others