Types of Metal Alloys and

manufacturing of metal implants

By:
Afifa Barakullah
• The first stainless steel utilized for implant fabrication was
the type 302 which is stronger and more resistant to
corrosion than the Vanadium steel

• Vanadium steel is no longer used in implants since its

corrosion resistance is inadequate in vivo

• Later 302Mo stainless steel was introduced which contains

a small percentage of molybdenum to improve the corrosion
resistance in chloride solution (salt water)

• This alloy became known as type 316 stainless steel

 Types 316 and 316L, are most widely used for implant
fabrication

 The only difference in composition between 316L and 316

stainless steel is the content of carbon.

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 A wide range of properties exists depending on the heat
treatment or cold working (for greater strength and
hardness).

 The austenitic stainless steels type 316 ad 316L, are most

widely used for implant fabrication

 Type 316 and 316L cannot be hardened by heat treatment,

and are non-magnetic.

 Even the 316L stainless steels may corrode inside the body
under certain circumstances in a highly stressed and
oxygen depleted region, such as contact under screws or
fracture plates.

 Thus, stainless steels are suitable to use only in temporary

implant devices, such as fractures plates, screws and hip
nails

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Its application from Surgical tools to intramedullary rods

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 Remodelling at
24 weeks after
implantation

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Chemical composition of Stainless Steel Alloys

Mechanical properties of Stainless Steel Alloys

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• There are basically two types of cobalt-chromium alloys
used in medical devices/implants manufacturing, which are

1. CoCrMo (F75) alloy

2. CoNiCrMo (MP35N) alloy
CoCr crown
• The castable F75 alloy has been used for many decades in
dentistry and recently in making artificial joints

• The wrought (by hot forging) MP35N alloy is relatively

new, and now used for making the stems of prostheses for
heavily loaded joints (e.g. hip and knee) CoCr Stent

• The two basic elements of the CoCr alloys form a solid

solution of up to 65% Co

• The molybdenum is added to produce finer grains which

results in high strengths after Casting or Forging

• The chromium enhances corrosion resistance as well as CoCr Hip stem

solid solution strengthening of the alloy Afifa Barakullah (BMT-314)
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• The CoNiCrMo (MP35N) contains approximately 35% Co and Ni each, and the
alloy is highly corrosion resistant to seawater (containing chloride ions) under
stress

• Cold working can increase the strength of the MP35N alloy significantly

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• The CoCrMo (F75) alloy is not recommended for the bearing surfaces of
joint prosthesis because of its poor frictional properties with itself or other
materials.

• The superior fatigue and ultimate tensile strength of the wrought Mp35N
alloy make it suitable for the applications which require long service life
without fracture or stress fatigue. Such is the case for the stems of hip joint
prostheses

• This advantage is better appreciated when the implant has to be replaced (in
revision arthroplasties), since it is quite difficult to remove the failed piece of
implant embedded deep in the femoral medullary canal

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Large grain size of Castable CoCrMo (F75) alloy
Very fine (small) grain size of MP35N alloy

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Spinal Disk Replacement device
made of CoCrMo endplates with
UHMWPE internal core

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• Titanium’s lightness (Density 4.5 g/cm3) and good
mechanochemical properties are the key points for implant
application
• Titanium is 40% lighter than steel and 60% heavier than
aluminum.
• This combination of high strength and low weight makes titanium
a very useful structural metal.
• Titanium also features excellent corrosion resistance, which stems
from a thin oxide surface film which protects it from atmospheric
and ocean conditions as well as a wide variety of chemicals.
• There are four grades of unalloyed Commercially Pure Titanium
(cp) for surgical implant applications, and their impurity contents
separate them (i.e. oxygen, iron, and nitrogen)
• One Titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V) is widely used for implants
manufacturing

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• Titanium has a Hexagonal Close-Packed structure (i.e. atoms of pure

titanium align in the solid state in hexagonal close-packed crystalline

structure, called the alpha (α) phase (hcp, α-Ti)) OR a Body-centred

cubic structure, called the beta (β) phase.

• In the pure metal, transformation from the alpha to the beta phase occurs

upon heating above 883° C

• The addition of alloying elements to titanium enables it to have a wide

range of properties, e.g.

1. Aluminum tends to stabilize the α-phase

2. Vanadium stabilizes the β-phase

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There are three structural types of titanium alloys:
1) Alpha (α)
2) Alpha Beta (α β)
3) Beta (β)

1. Commercially pure (cp) titanium and alpha alloys of titanium are non-heat
treatable and are generally very weldable. They have:

• Low to medium strength

• Reasonably good ductility
• Excellent mechanical properties at cryogenic (low) temperatures

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2. Alpha Beta alloys are heat treatable and most are weldable. Typical properties include:

• Strength levels are medium to high

• Cold forming may be limited but hot forming qualities are normally good
• Many alloys can be superplastically formed

3. Beta alloys are:

• Fully heat treatable

• Generally weldable
• Capable of high strengths
• Excellent formability can be expected in the beta alloys in the solution treated condition

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Market:
• Titanium is a standard material for medical devices such as hip
joints, bone screws, knee joints, bone plates, dental implants,
surgical devices, pacemaker cases and centrifuges due to its
total resistance to attack by body fluids, high strength and low
modulus

Metal of choice:
• The body readily accepts titanium since it is more
biocompatible than stainless steel or cobalt chrome. Titanium
also has a higher fatigue strength than many other metals.
The unique qualities of titanium prove to be MRI (Magnetic
Resonance Imaging ) and CT (Computed Tomography )
compatible.

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Metal Processing Techniques

Some of the main metal processing techniques include;

1. Forming Technique

2. Casting Technique

3. Powder Processing Technique

4. Rapid Manufacturing

5. Welding

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Forming Technique

• Forming methods are those in which the shape of a metal is altered via plastic deformation
• If these processes are conducted at temperatures at or above about 0.3 Tm
(recrystallization temperature), this is termed as Hot Working
• If the deformation occurs at a lower temperature, this is Cold Working
• The advantage of hot working are that large deformations are possible and the energy
required for these deformations is less than would be needed in cold working
• However, during this process, materials often undergo surface oxidation, which results in
a poor finish
• In contrast, cold-worked metals/implants are stronger and have a more appealing surface
finish
• Additionally, there is better control of the dimensions of the final product if the forming
procedure is carried out at lower temperature
• Disadvantage of cold working include that smaller amounts of deformation is possible
than in hot working and that materials often experience a decrease in ductility and
corrosion resistance after undergoing this process
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Forming Technique

Some of the metal forming techniques, include

 Forging

 Rolling

 Extrusion

 Drawing

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Forming Technique

Diagram of closed-die Forging process. In this

manufacturing technique, a force is exerted on two die
halves, which causes the deformation of the stock material
into desired shape

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Forming Technique

Diagram of Rolling process. Here, the material is

placed between two rollers that exert compressive
forces on the material and cause a reduction in
thickness as the material is fed through the rollers. This
process can be performed at room temperature or higher

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Casting Technique

Diagram of Investment Casting (or Lost-wax) process. A

pattern is first created from a wax or polymer with a low melting
point. The pattern is encased in a slurry to produce a mold, and
the entire object is heated to melt and/or burn out the pattern. The
empty mold is then filled with molten metal and allowed to cool,
resulting in the final piece when the mold is separated
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