Abstract
Ti-6Al-7Nb alloy has been developed for more suitable biomaterial in place of Ti-6Al-4V alloy because of vanadium toxicity to human body. In this study, the metal injection molding process was applied to produce the Ti-6Al-7Nb alloy compacts using alloy powder. For comparison, the mixed elemental powders of Ti, Al and Nb, and pre-alloyed powders of Ti-Al and Al-Nb were also used. The effects of sintering conditions on the microstructures, relative density and mechanical properties of injection molded compacts were investigated. Sintered compacts using alloy powder showed relatively higher mechanical properties than the compacts using mixed powder. Eventually, the compacts using alloy powder were improved to be 900 MPa of tensile strength with 15% of elongation, which are comparable to the properties of wrought materials.
