Abstract
The increasing use of orthopedic surgical implants, both due to the increase in people's longevity and the greater exposure to different types of accidents, has led to the need to develop metallic materials with better performance in this type of application. The aim of this work is to analyze how the failure of a Ti-6Al-4V alloy plate occurred after only 45 days of insertion of this implant in a patient about 50 years old. The use of experimental analysis techniques, such as optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), allowed the conclusion that the plate initially fractured due to fatigue, caused by the concentration of stresses resulting from inadequate machining in the roots of the threads of the holes in plate, proceeding as a brittle transgranular fracture through the cleavage mechanism, due to embrittlement caused by inadequate thermomechanical processing.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
C.R.F. Azevedo, E. Hippert Jr., Failure analysis of surgical implants in Brazil. J. Fail. Anal. Prev. 9(6), 621–633 (2002)
S. Nag, R. Banerjee. Fundamentals of medical implant materials, in ASM Handbook Vol. 23—Materials for Medical Devices, ed. by R. J. Narayan (ASM International, Materials Park, 2012), pp. 6–8, 197–236
A.T. Sidambe, Biocompatibility of advanced manufactured titanium implants—a review. Materials. 7(12), 8168–8188 (2014)
M.J. Donachie Jr. Titanium—A Technical Guide (2nd edition) (ASM International, Materials Park, 2000), pp. 8–9, 204–204.
ASTM E3-11, Standard Guide for Preparation of Metallographic Specimens. (ASTM International, West Conshohocken, 2017)
ASTm e 407-07, Standard Practices for Microetching Metals and Alloys. (ASTM International, West Conshohocken, 2015)
M. Geetha, A.K. Singh, A. Rajamanickam, A. Gogia, Ti based biomaterials, the ultimate choice for orthopaedic implants. Prog. Mater. Sci. 54, 397–425 (2009)
S. Hosseini, Biomedical Engineering—Technical Applications in Medicine, Fatigue of Ti-6Al-4V (Intech Open Science, London, 2012), p.75–92
ISO 5832-3, Implants for Surgery—Metallic Materials — Part 3: Wrought Titanium 6-Aluminium 4-Vanadium Alloy. (International Organization for Standardization (ISO), Geneva, 1996)
ASTM F136-13, e1. Standard Specification for Wrought Titanium-6Aluminum-4Vanadium ELI (Extra Low Interstititial) Alloy for Surgical Implant Applications (UNS R 56401). (ASTM International, Materials Park, 2021)
T. Akahori, M. Niinomi, Fracture characteristics of fatigued Ti-6Al-4V ELI as an implant material. Mater. Sci. Eng. A. 243, 237–243 (1998)
R.S. Karanth, S. Suwas, Microstructure and texture evolution during sub-transus thermo-mechanical processing of Ti-6Al-4V-0.1B alloy: part II. Static annealing in alpha plus beta regime. Metall. Mater. Trans. A. 44A, 3322–3336 (2013)
J.C. Chesnutt, C.G. Rhodes, J.C. Williams. Relationship between mechanical properties, microstructure and fracture topography in α+β titanium alloys, in Fractography-Microscopic Cracking Processes. ASTM STP 600 (American Society for Testing and Materials, 1976), pp. 99–138
H.S. Dobbs, J.T. Scales, Behavior of commercially pure titanium and Ti-318 (Ti-6Al-4V) in orthopedic implants, in Titanium Alloys in Surgical Implants, ASTM STP 796. ed. by H.A. Luckey, F. Kubli Jr. (American Society for Testing and Materials, 1983), p.173–186
A. Ajiz, J.A. Gunawarman, The effects of short time solution treatment and short time aging on mechanical properties of Ti-6Al-4V for orthopedic applications. Int. J. Adv. Sci. Eng. Inf. Technol. 5(4), 329–324 (2015)
M. Kaur, A. Singh, Review on titanium and titanium based alloys as biomaterials for orthopaedic applications. Mater. Sci. Eng. C. 102, 844–862 (2019)
T.S.N.S. Narayanan, J. Kim, H.W. Park, High performance corrosion and wear resistant Ti-6Al-4V alloy by the hybrid treatment method. Appl. Surf. Sci. 504, 144388 (2020)
A.A. Griffith, The phenomena of rupture and flow in solids. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. Ser. A Contain. Pap. Math. Phys. Charact. 221, 163–198 (1921)
R.W. Hertzberg, Deformation and Fracture Mechanics of Engineering materials, 4th edn. (Wiley, 1995), p.574–613
D. Broek, Elementary Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 4th edn. (Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 2002), p.260–272
P.H. DeVries, K.T. Ruth, D.P. Dennies, Counting on fatigue: striations and their measure. J. Fail. Anal. Prev. 10, 120–137 (2010)
N.G. Durmus, T.J. Webster, Nanostructured titanium: the ideal material for improving orthopedic implant efficacy? Nanomedicine. 7(6), 791–793 (2012)
C.R.F. Azevedo, A.H. Fellerb, Selected cases of failure analysis and the regulatory agencies in Brazil. Part 1: Aviation, railway and health. Eng. Fail. Anal. 97(3), 354–373 (2019)
Acknowledgments
The authors thank CNPq (Brazilian Council for Scientific Research) for financial support, mainly its SisNano program, and Fernanda Cristina de Souza Coelho dos Santos, from CENANO/INT, for obtaining SEM images.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
de Cerqueira Abud, I., Barbosa, C., de Jesus Monteiro, M. et al. Microstructural and Fractographic Aspects on the Failure Analysis of a Mixed Mode Fractured Ti-6Al-4V Femoral Long Plate. J Fail. Anal. and Preven. 23, 414–419 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11668-022-01586-4
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11668-022-01586-4