Effect of age hardening on corrosion resistance and hardness of CoCrMo alloys used in dental engineering

Purpose: The goal of the study is to research the effect of various time of ageing on corrosion resistance, hardness and structures of Remanium 2000+ Co-Cr-Mo alloys used in prosthodontia. Design/methodology/approach: To investigation was prepared mould, cast in 1430°C and realized the heat treatment: solutioning in 1250°C by 3 hours and then ageing in 850°C by 4, 8, 16 and 24 hours. Electrochemical corrosion examination were made in water center which simulated artificial saliva environment. The evaluation of breakdown potential was realized by recording of anodic polarization curves with use the potentiodynamic methods. Corrosion resistance test were carried out at room temperature and use of the VoltaLab® PGP201 system for electrochemical tests. Hardness test were obtained by use the microhardness FM ARS 9000 FUTURE TECH with load 1 kg. Structure observation was made after surface preparation: grinding, polishing and etching by light microscope LEICA MEF4A with the magnification 500x. Findings: The age hardening for Co-Cr-Mo alloys is one of the possible method which effect in forming the hardness. The highest value of hardness were obtain for specimen which was ageing with the longer time. Research alloy characterized dendritic crystals in structure for all realized heat treated process. At specimen after the longer ageing was observed the most of discontinuous precipitation and stacking faults in compare with specimen ageing by 4 hours. The age hardening doesn’t influenced much on electrochemical results and only the open circuit potential changed by decreased while increased ageing time. The values of breakdown potential and repassivation potential kept at a constant level. Practical implications: Research material is used on dentures so it’s demand that their characterized corrosion resistance and result of this work make up an information on what heat treatment parameters may be pay attention for CoCrMo alloys. Originality/value: The paper present effect of age hardening especially the ageing time, on the most important criteria of CoCrMo alloys use in dental engineering.