Deformation behavior of low-carbon Co-Cr-Mo alloys for low-friction implant applications

The plastic flow behavior of wrought Co-27Cr-5Mo-0.05C alloy was investigated at 298 K as a function of grain size using uniaxial tension testing. The microstructures produced by deformation were characterized using X-ray diffraction, reflected light, and scanning electron microscopy. This study revealed that material with initially coarse face-centered cubic (fcc) grains exhibits larger uniform ductility than material with fine grain size. Typically, increasing the grain size from 7 to 70 mu m reduces the yield strength by about 50% and increases the elongation to fracture from 12 to 30% with a small effect on the tensile strength. The material is capable of deforming uniformly to large strains without developing plastic instabilities until the point of fracture. This effect was found to be associated with the occurrence of transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) in the coarse-grained material. TRIP enhances the material's ability to deform uniformly by maintaining a high rate of strain hardening during deformation. Smaller fcc initial grain size inhibits the transformation kinetics of the fcc-hexagonal close-packed phase transition according to the Olson-Cohen model. (C) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.