Research Projects

The study explores the potential of magnesium, zinc, and iron-based alloys for biodegradable implant applications. However, magnesium alloys have disadvantages such as gaseous hydrogen evolution and excessive corrosion rate, while iron alloys have a slow corrosion rate and bulky products. Zinc, with a corrosion rate between Mg and Fe, is a potential alternative material. However, the studies on zinc-based biodegradable alloys are limited, with only about 100 publications until 2023. The study also highlights the need for simultaneous studies on the mechanical properties and biodegradability of zinc alloys to establish and recommend applications. The study also highlights the importance of severe plastic deformation (sPD) techniques, particularly scalable sPD techniques, in improving the mechanical properties and biodegradability of binary alloys. sPD techniques can improve mechanical properties through microstructure refinement, but most sPD techniques are batch processes with limitations in sample size. The study chooses friction stir processing and equal channel angular rolling as industrially feasible processes. The objectives of the study include selecting compositions of Zn-Mn based binary and ternary alloys and studying their mechanical properties and biodegradability. It also compares the influence of FsP and ECAR processing on microstructure evolution and correlates the mechanical and biodegradable properties with the microstructure.