ARTICLE IN PRESS

Biomaterials 27 (2006) 12001208

www.elsevier.com/locate/biomaterials

Fatigue and cyclic deformation behaviour of surface-modied titanium

alloys in simulated physiological media
Christian Leinenbacha,b,1, Dietmar Eiera,
a

Institute of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Kaiserslautern, Gottlieb-Daimler-Str., 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany
b
Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (EMPA), Duebendorf, Switzerland
Received 27 April 2005; accepted 15 August 2005
Available online 6 September 2005

Abstract
In this investigation, the cyclic deformation behaviour of the binary titanium alloys Ti-6Al-4V and Ti-6Al-7Nb was characterized in
axial stress-controlled constant amplitude and load increase tests as well as in rotating bending tests. The inuence of different clinically
relevant surface treatments (polishing, corundum grit blasting, thermal and anodic oxidizing) on the fatigue behaviour was investigated.
All tests were realized in oxygen-saturated Ringers solution. The cyclic deformation behaviour was characterized by mechanical
hysteresis measurements. In addition, the change of the free corrosion potential and the corrosion current during testing in simulated
physiological media indicated surface damages such as slip bands, intrusions and extrusions or nally microcracks. Microstructural
changes on the specimen surfaces were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM).
r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Titanium alloys; Surface modication; Titanium oxide; Surface roughness; Corrosion fatigue

1. Introduction
The fatigue strength, the low specic weight and the
corrosion resistance of titanium alloys are important
properties for their use as aerospace materials as well as
for medical applications as implant materials. In comparison with other metals, titanium alloys exhibit an
advantageous combination of excellent biocompatibility
and high mechanical properties, which qualies them as
materials for load-bearing implants. Their excellent biocompatibility is assumed to be due to the formation of a
dense and stable TiO2 layer, which rebuilds spontaneously
after being damaged, even in solutions with low oxygen
contents [14]. In order to improve the bioadhesion and the
Corresponding author. Tel.: +49 631 205 2411; fax: +49 631 205 2137.

E-mail addresses: christian.leinenbach@empa.ch (C. Leinenbach),

eier@mv.uni-kl.de (D. Eier).
1
Until 15/05/05: Institute of Materials Science and Engineering,
University of Kaiserslautern, Gottlieb-Daimler-Str., 67663 Kaiserslautern,
Germany.
From 01/06/05: Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and
Research (EMPA), Department of Advanced Materials and Surfaces,
Ueberlandstrasse 129, 8600 Duebendorf, Switzerland.
0142-9612/$ - see front matter r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.biomaterials.2005.08.012

corrosion behaviour, titanium implants are often surface

modied, for example by surface roughening, oxidation or
coating techniques [57]. These surface treatments can
inuence the mechanical properties of the implant alloy
[810]. The integration behaviour can be inuenced by
structural and morphological changes of the implant
surface. Thus, the in situ detection and characterization
of mechanically induced surface damages such as fatigue
cracks is of major interest to satisfactorily predict the long
term in vivo behaviour of implant materials.
Despite their physiological and mechanical relevance a
possible inuence of the highly complex in vivo loading
conditions on the cyclic deformation behaviour of these
alloys has hardly been considered yet. In particular, work
on the fatigue behaviour of titanium implant alloys with
clinically relevant surface conditions is rather scarce.
Former work dealt mainly with different aspects limited
to fatigue life and crack growth [11,12], whereby the
measurement of the free corrosion potential allowed the
detection of surface damage in axial or rotating bending
fatigue tests of passivating metals, such as stainless steels or
titanium alloys in saline solutions [13,14]. In addition,
current measurements are often used to study local

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C. Leinenbach, D. Eifler / Biomaterials 27 (2006) 12001208

corrosion effects on metallic materials such as crevice or

pitting corrosion [1517]. In some cases, potentiostatically
controlled current measurements were used to gain
information on fatigue-induced surface damages on stainless steels in corrosive media [18,19]. Load increase tests in
combination with mechanical hysteresis measurements
allow to determine the endurance limit of a material with
a very limited number of specimens [20]. In this work, the
cyclic deformation behaviour of the implant alloys Ti-6Al4V and Ti-6Al-7Nb with different clinically relevant
surface conditions was characterized in rotating bending
tests as well as in axial constant amplitude tests and load
increase tests in Ringers solution.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Materials
Cylindrical specimens were machined from hot and cold drawn rods of
the binary titanium implant alloys Ti-6Al-4V and Ti-6Al-7Nb, which
corresponded to the requirements of DIN ISO 5832 parts 3 and 11. Two
batches of each alloy with slightly different mechanical properties supplied
by different manufacturers, designated (C) and (E), respectively, were
considered. The chemical composition and the monotonic properties are
listed in Tables 1 and 2. Both alloys show very high yield and tensile
strengths, Rp0.2 and Rm, and ductility, A5. The (C)-batches were used for
axial fatigue specimens. Rotating bending specimens were taken from the
(E)-batches.

2.2. Surface preparation

In order to compare different surface conditions, the specimens were
mechanically polished (pol), corundum grit blasted (cgb) or thermally (to)
and anodically (ao) oxidized. The mechanically polished surfaces were
nally polished with 0.25 mm SiO2 suspension, whereby surface roughness
values of Ra 0:03 mm were achieved. The machining and mechanical
polishing-generated surface-compressive residual stresses of approximately
406 MPa (Ti-6Al-4 V) and
340 MPa (Ti-6Al-7Nb), respectively,
as determined with the sin2c-method (cf. Table 3). Grit-blasted surfaces
Table 1
Chemical composition of the investigated Ti-6Al-4V and Ti-6Al-7Nb
alloys
[wt.
%]

Al

Fe

V/Nb

Ti-6Al-4V (C)
Ti-6Al-4V (E)
Ti-6Al-7Nb (C)
Ti-6Al-7Nb (E)

0.012
0.02
0.01
0.01

0.005
0.01
0.008
0.004

5.88
6.04
5.85
6.03

0.11
0.105
0.185
0.175

0.12
0.18
0.125
0.13

3.97/
4.02/
/6.90
/7.17

0.0019
0.0047
0.003
0.0022

Table 2
Monotonic properties of the investigated Ti-6Al-4V and Ti-6Al-7Nb
alloys
Alloy

Rp0.2 (MPa)

Rm (MPa)

A5 (%)

Ti-6Al-4V (C)
Ti-6Al-4V (E)
Ti-6Al-7Nb (C)
Ti-6Al-7Nb (E)

880
865
875
882

960
1020
967
1070

18.5
15
16.5
16.6

1201

on Ti-6Al-4 V specimens were produced using an air shot peening device

and Al2O3 (corundum) shot with a mean particle size between 0.5 and
1 mm. Oxide lms were generated on Ti-6Al-7Nb specimens. Thermal
oxidation was performed on the polished specimens in a laboratory
furnace in air at 675 1C for 180 min. Anodically oxidized specimens were
produced after polishing under galvanostatic conditions in 1 M H2SO4 at
room temperature. During the oxidation, the constant current density of
10 mA/cm2 resulted in a permanently increasing potential. The power
supply was immediately switched off at a nal potential of 40 V.

2.3. Experimental techniques and loading parameters

2.3.1. Surface characterization
The chemical composition at the specimen surfaces was characterized
by Auger electron spectroscopy (AES, Perkin Elmer SAM 600). Element
depth proles could be determined by solid state sputtering using an Ar+ion gun with a maximum accelerating voltage of 5 kV. Fourier
transformation infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to characterize
the structure of oxidized specimens (IFS 66 v/s, Bruker). The measurements were carried out in the reection mode at an angle of 701 with ppolarized light. A Philips XPert X-ray diffractometer (Philips Analytical
B.V.) was used to measure surface residual stresses on specimens with
different surface conditions. All measurements were performed using CrKa radiation (l 0:229 nm). The surface residual stresses were determined
by the sin2c-method. The elastic lattice strains were measured for the
(1013) plane (2y 118:521) in the range 1161p2yp1221 in the positive
and negative c-direction between +601 and
601.
2.3.2. Fatigue tests
The axial fatigue tests were performed on a Schenck servo-hydraulic
testing system. Data were recorded by means of a software based on
LabView programmed at the Institute of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Kaiserslautern. The axial stress-controlled constant
amplitude tests were performed at a frequency of 5 Hz and a load ratio of
R
1. Furthermore, the cyclic deformation behaviour was investigated
in stepwise load increase tests. The initial stress amplitude of 300 MPa was
increased by 25 MPa every 20,000 cycles over a period of 1000 cycles.
Single-step rotating bending tests at a frequency of 10 Hz were performed
on a Schenck PUP Simplex rotating bending machine. All fatigue tests
were performed in oxygen-saturated Ringers solution at 37 1C. At the
beginning of the tests the pH-value was set to 7.4.
The cyclic deformation behaviour was characterized by the evolution of
the plastic strain amplitude versus the number of cycles. Fatigue-induced
surface changes were detected and characterized by corrosion potential
and current measurements. The free corrosion potential is measured
between the working electrode (WE, specimen) and the reference electrode
(RE, Argenthal Ag/AgCl, +207 mV to standard hydrogen electrode
(SHE)). To determine the free corrosion current, the WE is connected with
a counter electrode (CE) via a low noise multimeter. The CE is a specimen
consisting of the same material with the same surface condition as the
working electrode. Consequently, both electrodes are on the same
electrochemical potential versus the RE while the surface of the loaded
specimen is undamaged. This experimental setup allows the simultaneous
detection of the corrosion current and potential in open circuit conditions.
The principles of the electrochemical techniques have been described
elsewhere in greater detail [13,14]. Fig. 1 shows schematically the
experimental setup for axial fatigue tests. All testing parameters are
summarized in Table 4.

3. Results
3.1. Surface conditions
3.1.1. Corundum grit blasted specimens
The SEM micrograph in Fig. 2(a) shows the coarse
surface structure of a grit-blasted specimen. Due to their

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Table 3
Surface residual stresses and mean roughness values (pol: polished, cgb: corundum grit blasted, ao: anodically oxidized, to: thermally oxidized)

Ra (mm)
sres (MPa)

Ti-6Al-4V pol

Ti-6Al-4V cgb

Ti-6Al-7Nb pol

Ti-6Al-7Nb ao

Ti-6Al-7Nb to

0.040

406 (734)

5.210

160 (726)

0.040

390 (755)

0.065

287 (720)

0.121
+95 (732)

Table 4
Testing parameters
Test type

Testing parameters

Medium

Constant amplitude
test

N max 2  106

Oxygen-saturated
Ringers solution

Stepwise load increase

test

Rotating bending
tests

f 5 Hz
sa;min 300 MPa
Dsa 25 MPa in
DN 103
DN step 2  104
f 5 Hz
N max 2  106

Oxygen-saturated
Ringers solution

Oxygen-saturated
Ringers solution

f 10 Hz

Fig. 1. Schematic drawing of the experimental setup for axial fatigue tests.

high kinetic energy, Al2O3 particles fracture at the surface

and are partly embedded in the material (Fig. 2(b)). The
achieved surface roughness values were comparable to data
given by implant manufacturers in the range of
Ra 426 mm. Additional residual stress measurements
revealed that the compressive residual stresses caused
by grinding and polishing were signicantly reduced
from
400 to
160 MPa by the grit-blasting process (cf.
Table 3).
3.1.2. Thermally and anodically oxidized specimens
Fig. 3 shows scanning electron micrographs of specimen
surfaces after oxidation. The oxide lms produced by
thermal oxidation (a) result in a very ne-grained crystalline microstructure, while the anodically oxidized surfaces
(b) exhibit a nanoporous structure. The porosity is
signicantly higher in the Al-rich a-phase than in the Nbrich b-phase. The microstructure below the surface oxide
layer was not affected by the oxidation. In particular, the
formation of the so-called a-case, a hard and brittle phase
with high amounts of oxygen and nitrogen, which is
disadvantageous for the mechanical properties, could not
be observed.
Both processes resulted in oxide layers between
80100 nm. The thickness was determined by the light blue
interference colour, which is characteristic for oxide lms
of approximately 8090 nm [6]. The oxide layer thickness

Fig. 2. SEM micrograph of corundum grit-blasted Ti-6Al-4V (C) (a),

cross section (b).

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Fig. 5. FTIR-spectra of thermally and anodically oxidized Ti-6Al-7Nb.

Fig. 3. SEM micrographs of thermally (a) and anodically oxidized (b) Ti6Al-7Nb (C).

was veried using AES. In Fig. 4, the concentration of the

alloying elements Ti, Al and O as a function of the depth
from the surface is shown for both a thermally oxidized
and an anodically oxidized Ti-6Al-7Nb specimen. In AESdepth proles, the element concentration is usually plotted
against the sputter time. In this work, the sputter time has
been transferred to a Ta2O5-depth equivalent, which has
been determined on a Ta2O5 target with a well-dened
thickness and a similar sputter behaviour as TiO2. On both
specimens, the oxide concentration decreases at a depth of
approximately 90 nm, while the titanium as well as
aluminium concentrations increase. The titanium and
oxide distributions appear more homogeneous in the
anodic oxide layer. A signicant amount of aluminium
was detected near the surface of the thermally oxidized
specimen, possibly indicating the formation of Al2O3
beside TiO2 and possibly other titanium oxides.
With FTIR-absorption spectra it could be proved that
the thermal oxide lms consist mainly of crystalline TiO2 in
the Rutile modication with some amount of TiO2 in the
Anatas structure (cf. Fig. 5) [2123]. The FTIR spectra of
the anodically oxidized specimens revealed oxide lms,
which are mainly amorphous with small amounts of
Anatas and Rutile [24]. Surface-compressive residual
stresses were measured on anodically oxidized specimens
while tensile residual stresses were detected on thermally
oxidized specimens. In comparison with polished specimens a slight decrease of the compressive residual stresses
was found for anodized Ti-6Al-7Nb. The pronounced
decrease of the compressive residual stresses after thermal
oxidation might be partly explained with thermally induced
stress relaxation [25,26]. The presence of tensile residual
stresses could be a result of the different thermal expansion
coefcients of the bulk material and the oxide layer.
3.2. Influence of the surface condition on the fatigue
behaviour

Fig. 4. AES-depth proles of a thermal and an anodic oxide layer on Ti6Al-7Nb.

3.2.1. Corundum grit-blasted specimens

In Fig. 6 the S,N-curves of grit-blasted and polished Ti6Al-4V are presented for axial fatigue tests (a) and rotating
bending tests (b). In comparison with polished Ti-6Al-4V,

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Fig. 6. S,N-curves for polished and grit blasted Ti-6Al-4V in oxygensaturated Ringers solution, (a) axial loading, (b) rotating bending.

the fatigue life of grit-blasted Ti-6Al-4V is signicantly

reduced. The data were approximated by linear regression
but not evaluated by statistical methods. The endurance
limit for axial loading could be estimated to 475 MPa. This
corresponds to a decrease of more than 150 MPa compared
to polished specimens. For rotating bending, the endurance
limit could be estimated to 540 MPa. The decrease is less
pronounced than in axial fatigue tests, but the slightly
different material compositions and microstructures of
axial fatigue and rotating bending specimens have to be
taken into account. With regard to the results of the
surface residual stress measurements it can be stated that
no increase of the surface compressive residual stresses can
be detected after the cgb process, which is usually achieved
in shot peening treatments. The surface roughening is
caused by abrasion. It is thus assumed that the fatigue
behaviour of Ti-6Al-4V is essentially determined by the
surface topography. High mechanical stresses are caused
by the surface grooves or remaining corundum particles
(cf. Fig. 2).
3.2.2. Thermally and anodically oxidized specimens
Fig. 7 shows the S,N-curves of thermally and anodically
oxidized Ti-6Al-7Nb compared to the S,N-data for
polished specimens. For axial loading (Fig. 7a)), thermal
oxidation in general reduced the number of cycles to failure
in comparison with polished specimens, whereas for

Fig. 7. S,N-curves for polished, thermally and anodically oxidized Ti-6Al7Nb in oxygen-saturated Ringers solution, (a) axial loading, (b) rotating
bending.

anodically oxidized specimens signicantly higher numbers

of cycles could be determined at stress amplitudes below
650 MPa. A similar number of cycles to failure to those for
polished specimens were measured at higher stress amplitudes. The endurance limits are affected by the surface
treatment and could be estimated to 500 MPa (to) and
530 MPa (ao) for the different surface conditions. For
rotating bending (Fig. 7b), a signicant decrease of the
endurance limit of the thermally oxidized specimens from
approximately 675 to 640 MPa and shorter fatigue lives at
higher stress amplitudes compared to polished ones were
observed. Anodically oxidized specimens, however, showed
a higher endurance limit (E700 MPa) and longer fatigue
lives.
3.3. Characterization of fatigue-induced surface damage in
stepwise load increase tests
Figs. 8 and 9 show the results of stepwise load increase
tests on Ti-6Al-4V and Ti-6Al-7Nb specimens with the
different surface treatments. The development of the plastic
strain amplitude, ea,p, is plotted versus the number of
cycles. Very low values of ea,p in the range of
0.2
0.3  10
3 were measured at stress amplitudes up to
750 MPa for all specimens. For the polished specimen of
Ti-6Al-4V, the plastic strain amplitude started to increase

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Fig. 8. Plastic strain amplitude versus the number of cycles in stepwise

load-increase tests (Ti-6Al-4V, Ringer).

Fig. 9. Plastic strain amplitude versus the number of cycles in stepwise

load-increase tests (Ti-6Al-7Nb, Ringer).

at a stress amplitude of 700 MPa. The corundum gritblasted specimen failed at 600 MPa without any change of
the plastic strain amplitude. A similar behaviour was
observed for thermally oxidized Ti-6Al-7Nb, which failed
at a stress amplitude of 500 MPa, whereas the anodically
oxidized specimen showed pronounced cyclic softening at
stress amplitudes of more than 700 MPa.
In addition to the mechanical hysteresis measurements
the changes of the free corrosion potential as well as the
corrosion current were measured. While hysteresis measurements are generally used for the characterization of the
degree of damage in the bulk material, fatigue-induced
surface damages can be detected more precisely with these
electrochemical techniques. The tests were started after
passivation of the implant material in Ringers solution in
the load-free state. Surface deformations such as slip
bands, intrusions and extrusions or microcracks lead to an
oxide lm rupture and a local loss of passivity. As a
consequence, the free corrosion potential is shifted towards
more negative values. Since the working electrode is
connected to the undamaged counter electrode, the
potential difference between the two electrodes induces a

1205

Fig. 10. Change of the corrosion potential and corrosion current versus
the cycle number in a load increase test of grit-blasted Ti-6Al-4V (C) in
Ringers solution.

corrosion current according to Ohms law. In oxygen

containing media, a new oxide lm will be created
immediately due to repassivation. Thus, the ion ux into
the solution is reduced resulting in a drop of the corrosion
current and an increasing potential. The overall potential
and current changes over the time depend on the rates of
both activation and repassivation.
In Fig. 10, the corrosion current and potential as a
function of the number of cycles are presented for the cgb
specimen tested in a stepwise load increase experiment. In
both signals, distinct peaks appear at the beginning of each
step. With increasing stress amplitude, the initial decrease
of the potential as well as the increase of the current
becomes more pronounced. A slow recovery of both
signals can be observed during the 2  104 cycles with
constant amplitudes. Both signals indicate that the original
surface oxide layer is ruptured if the stress amplitudeand
thus the strain amplitude is increased, even at low-stress
amplitudes. As a result, metallic ions are released if the
specimen is strained. It can be assumed that cracks initiate
at remaining corundum particles or in sharp grooves where
large stress concentrations exist. In the following, the
formation rate of fresh surface decreases, resulting in a
decreasing current and an increasing potential in the single
steps. This leads to the assumption that the crack growth
rate decreases as well. Pronounced crack propagation
starts if a critical stress amplitude is reached. SEM
investigations on grit-blasted specimens after fatigue
testing revealed the formation of microcracks in the
vicinity of corundum particles, as can be seen in Fig. 11.
In Fig. 12 the development of the open circuit potential
and the corrosion current over the number of loading
cycles in a stepwise load increase test is shown for an
anodically oxidized and a thermally oxidized specimen. For
the anodically oxidized specimen, similar potential and
current curves were measured as for the polished ones. The
corrosion potential and current remain almost constant up
to a stress amplitude of 675 MPa. The slight increase can be
referred to surface charging effects. The continuously

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Fig. 11. SEM-micro cracks on grit-blasted Ti-6Al-4V in the vicinity of a

corundum particle (stepwise load increase test, N N f , z loading
direction).

observed. (cf. Fig. 13a and b). On thermally oxidized

specimens, small, narrow cracks perpendicular to the
loading direction which are characteristic for brittle
materials such as ceramics could be observed on both
axial fatigue and rotating bending specimens (cf. Fig. 13c
and d). This leads to the conclusion that the amorphous
oxide lm produced by anodic oxidation is more ductile
than the highly crystalline thermal oxide lm, which is
obviously not able to deform in the same manner as the
base material and ruptures even at relatively low stress
amplitudes. These results underline the high performance
of current and potential measurements to provide very
detailed information about microstructural effects at the
surface. By applying the electrochemical techniques in
stepwise load increase tests, it is possible to characterize the
surface damage behaviour in corrosive environment within
a rather short time.
4. Discussion

Fig. 12. Change of the corrosion potential and corrosion current versus
the cycle number in a load-increase test of anodically and thermally
oxidized Ti-6Al-7Nb (C) in Ringers solution.

decreasing potential and the increasing current at a stress

amplitude of 700 MPa indicate the initiation and propagation of a fatigue crack. In contrast, numerous peaks both in
the potential and in the current signal of the thermally
oxidized specimen were detected throughout the whole test.
This indicates that the surface oxide layer is obviously
damaged by many cracks, which form spontaneously at
many sites.
SEM investigations on axial and rotating bending
specimens were performed in order to determine the
damage characteristics of thermally and anodically oxidized specimens. The tests were interrupted after the
potential and current-indicated surface damage. On
anodically oxidized specimens, plastic deformation marks
similar to slip bands as well as delamination of the oxide
lm in some areas at relatively high cycle numbers could be

Referring to the results of the single step and rotating

bending tests, it can be concluded that corundum grit
blasting leads to a pronounced decrease of the fatigue life
of titanium alloys. It can be stated that cracks initiate
mainly in the vicinity of remained corundum particles
where a pronounced stress concentration occurs. In
addition, it can be assumed that the particle impact induces
a local residual stress eld, which further enhances the
crack formation and the initial crack growth. Subsequently, the crack propagates and leaves the critical region
in the surrounding of the particle and the plastic zone at
the crack tip then controls the further crack growth. Thus,
the crack propagation rate as well as the activation rate of
fresh titanium surface is reduced and, as a result, the
corrosion current decreases. Pronounced crack propagation starts if the critical stress intensity is reached at the
crack tip or if several small microcracks coalesce and form
a larger crack. Although, no quantitative crack growth
measurements were performed in this work. Even if the
cracks do not necessarily grow to a critical crack length,
which nally leads to failure, the continuous surface
activation during cyclic loading results in a high electrochemical activity in comparison with polished or oxidized
specimens. In addition, overloads can lead to a pronounced
increase of the crack propagation rate. Thus, the risk of a
sudden fatigue failure is higher in the case of corundum grit
blasted implants than for polished or oxidized ones.
The large differences between the number of cycles to
failure of thermally and anodically oxidized Ti-6Al-7Nb
specimens lead to the assumption that despite the small
microstructural differences between the two alloy batches
the fatigue behaviour is signicantly affected by the oxide
lm structure and topography. It can be assumed that the
amorphous oxide lms have a higher toughness and
ductility than the highly crystalline lms. These ndings
are consistent with the results of scratch tests performed
earlier, where it has been shown that thermal oxide lms

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Fig. 13. SEM-characteristic surface damages on Ti-6Al-7Nb, z loading direction; (a) ao, axial, sa 700 MPa, N 2300, (b) ao, rot. bend., sa 740 MPa
N 1:85  105 , (c) to, axial, sa 700 MPa, N 500, (d) to, rot. bend., sa 720 MPa, N 3:2  104 .

show a rather brittle behaviour whereas oxide lms

produced by anodic oxidation exhibit a more ductile
deformation behaviour [27]. The fatigue behaviour seems
to be less inuenced by the surface residual stresses, since
polished and anodically oxidized specimens showed similar
compressive residual stresses but different fatigue lives.
5. Conclusions
In the present investigation, the cyclic deformation
behaviour and the formation of fatigue-induced damage
of the binary titanium alloys Ti-6Al-4V and Ti-6Al-7Nb
was characterized by mechanical hysteresis, corrosion
potential and current measurements in Ringers solution.
The inuence of the surface conditions on the cyclic
deformation behaviour of the titanium alloys was investigated. The fatigue strength was decreased by corundum
grit blasting and thermal oxidation. In contrast, anodically
oxidized specimens showed a higher fatigue strength and
longer fatigue lives than polished ones. Current and
potential measurements are a powerful method to characterize the damage behaviour of passivated metals under
complex mechanical and electrochemical loading. Moreover, stepwise load increase tests proved to be very useful
to estimate the fatigue behaviour as well as the damage
behaviour of titanium surfaces under cyclic loading within
a relatively short time.
Acknowledgments
The authors greatly acknowledge the nancial support of
the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG. They further

thank R. Hanneforth of Stahlwerk Ergste and M. Windler

of Zimmer Holding, Winterthur, who supplied the test
materials.
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