SBIR Phase I: Novel Titanium Tantalum Materials for Improved Biomedical Implants and Medical Devices

这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段研究项目将解决生产含有高度难熔元素（如钽）的钛合金的困难，这是开发新型生物医用钛合金的主要障碍。用熔炼法生产这些合金需要熔化多达10次才能生产出均匀的铸锭。该项目开发了先进的粉末冶金工艺，以促进含有这些元素的钛合金的生产。该计划的重点是高度生物相容性的钛-钽合金，用于骨科植入物，无镍形状记忆和超弹性合金。含有30%钽的钛合金在植入物中具有特殊的前景，将被评估形状记忆行为，以及其他含有20%至60%钽的钛-钽合金。先进的粉末冶金工艺将加速生物医用钛合金的发展。在商业上，先进的粉末冶金工艺为材料科学家和工程师提供了一种经济的方法来开发和采用专门为其应用而设计的钛合金。目前，该行业通常采用Ti-6Al-4V等合金，这些合金很容易获得，但没有针对特定应用进行优化。技术上的障碍是生产用于开发的少量钛合金的高成本和用传统方法生产潜在的有趣的钛合金的困难。该技术将有助于用钽、铱和铂等高度难熔金属制造钛合金，这些金属很难用熔体或传统制造工艺制备。此外，该技术还可用于生产具有梯度组成的组分。例如，可以生产具有不同组成的表面，然后可以在不牺牲体金属性能的情况下提供更具生物活性或适合仿生涂层的表面。开发的独特实验方法有助于寻找符合特定标准的合金。这种影响将增加用于各种生物医学、航空航天、工业和消费产品的先进钛基合金的可用性。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I research project will address the difficulty in producing Titanium alloys containing highly refractory elements (e.g. tantalum) which is a major barrier to the development of new biomedical titanium alloys. The production of these alloys by melt processes requires melting up to 10 times to produce homogenous ingots. This project develops advanced powder metallurgical processes to facilitate the production of titanium alloys containing these elements. This program focus on the highly biocompatible titanium-tantalum alloys of interest for orthopedic implants, nickel-free shape memory, and super elastic alloys. A titanium alloy with 30 % tantalum holds particular promise for implants and will be evaluated for shape memory behavior as well as other titanium-tantalum alloys in the range of 20 to 60 % tantalum. Advanced powder metallurgical processes will accelerate the development of titanium alloys for biomedical applications. Commercially, the advanced powder metallurgical processes developed offer material scientists and engineers an economical way to develop and adopt titanium alloys specifically designed for their application. Currently, the industry typically settles for alloys such as Ti-6Al-4V that are readily available but are not optimized for a specific application. The technological hurdles have been the high cost of production of small quantities of a titanium alloy for development and the difficulty of production of potentially interesting titanium alloys by conventional methods. The technology will facilitate the manufacture of titanium alloyed with highly refractory metals such as tantalum, iridium and platinum that are extremely difficult to prepare by melt or conventional manufacturing processes. In addition the technology can be used to produce components with gradient composition. For example, surfaces with a different composition then the bulk material can be produced providing surfaces that are more bioactive or amenable to biomimetic coatings without sacrificing bulk metal properties. The unique experimental methods developed facilitate the search for alloys that meet specific criteria. The impact will be increased availability of advanced Ti-based alloys for a wide variety of biomedical, aerospace, industrial and consumer products.