The cyclic deformation behaviour and fatigue induced damage of the implant alloy TiAl6Nb7 in simulated physiological media

In the present work, the cyclic deformation behaviour of the binary titanium alloy TiAl6Nb7 under rotating bending in physiological media was characterized by corrosion potential and corrosion current measurements. Light and scanning electron microscopic investigations were used to correlate fatigue induced surface damage as well as the interactions with the surrounding media with the results of the electrochemical techniques. Both current and potential measurements proved to be very sensitive to indicate surface damage in situ at the very beginning. Moreover, damage processes during crack propagation can be characterized in detail.