Patent ID: 9677162
Date: 2017-06-13
CPC Classifications: A61C,A61L,C21D,C22C,C22F,C23C,F04C

Claim:
1. A method for manufacturing a titanium alloy with no nickel and with superelastic and/or shape memory properties for biomedical applications, comprising the steps of: preparing an ingot of the titanium alloy by vacuum melting the the titanium alloy; performing a vacuum homogenization of the ingot by annealing the ingot at a first temperature, wherein the annealing comprises raising the temperature of the ingot and holding it at that temperature for a period that allows full homogenization; performing a first quenching of the vacuum homogenized ingot; performing a mechanical shaping of the ingot at an ambient temperature into a predetermined shape; performing a heat treatment of the ingot for redissolution in a beta phase beyond the beta transus temperature, the heat treatment comprising raising the temperature up to a second required temperature and holding at that temperature for a certain period; and performing a second quenching of the ingot; wherein the method is characterized in that said heat treatment is carried out in a gaseous atmosphere and the heat treatment further comprises a nitriding phase wherein a surface treatment is applied to the ingot through a reaction with one or more gases in the gaseous atmosphere, so as to form a coat of nitride, carbonitride or oxynitride evenly on one or more surfaces of the ingot.