Tailoring properties of commercially pure titanium by gradation extrusion

Commercially pure titanium (CP Ti) is of great importance in medical applications due to its attractive properties, such as high biocompatibility, excellent corrosion resistance and relatively low density and suitable stiffness. Compared to the commonly used Ti-6Al-4V alloy, its lower strength has to be increased. The most attractive approach is to subject CP Ti to severe plastic deformation (SPD) processes such as Equal Channel Angular Pressing (ECAP). The resulting decreased grain size in CP Ti yields a significant increase in hardness and strength. Common SPD-processes typically provide a uniform modification of the material. Their material efficiency and productivity are critical and limiting factors. A new approach is to tailor the material properties by using Gradation Extrusion, which produces a distinct gradient in microstructure and strength. The forming process combines a regular impact extrusion process and severe plastic deformation in the lateral area of the material. This efficient process can be integrated easily into forming process chains, for instance for dental implants. This paper presents the forming process and the applied die geometry. The results of numerical simulations are used to illustrate the potential of the process to modify and strengthen the titanium material. Experiments show that the material is successfully processed by gradation extrusion. By characterizing the hardness and its distribution within the formed parts the effects of the process are investigated.