Corrosive and cytotoxic properties of compact specimens and microparticles of Ni-Cr dental alloy.

PURPOSE: Nickel-chromium (Ni-Cr) dental alloys have been widely used in prosthodontic practice, but there is a permanent concern about their biocompatibility due to the release of metal ions. This is especially important when Ni-Cr metal microparticles are incorporated into gingival tissue during prosthodontic procedures. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine and compare the corrosion and cytotoxic properties of compact specimens and microparticles of Ni-Cr dental alloy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ni-Cr alloy, Remanium CSe bars (4 mm diameter), were made by the standard casting method and then cut into 0.5-mm-thick disks. Metal particles were obtained by scraping the bars using a diamond instrument for crown preparation. The microstructure was observed by an optical microscope. Quantitative determination and morphological and dimensional characterization of metal particles were carried out by a scanning electron microscope and Leica Application Suite software for image analysis. Corrosion was studied by conditioning the alloy specimens in the RPMI 1640 medium, containing 10% fetal calf serum in an incubator with 5% CO2 for 72 hours at 37°C. Inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry was used to assess metal ion release. The cytotoxity of conditioning medium (CM) was investigated on L929 cells using an MTT test. One-way ANOVA was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: After casting, the microstructure of the Remanium CSe compact specimen composed of Ni, Cr, Mo, Si, Fe, Al, and Co had a typical dendritic structure. Alloy microparticles had an irregular shape with a wide size range: from less than 1 µm to more than 100 µm. The release of metal ions, especially Ni and Mo from microparticles, was significantly higher, compared to the compact alloy specimen. The CM prepared from compact alloy was not cytotoxic at any tested dilutions, whereas CM from alloy microparticles showed dose-dependent cytotoxicity (90% CM and 45% CM versus control; p < 0.005). CONCLUSION: Ni-Cr microparticles showed less corrosion resistance and lower biocompatibility than compact alloy. This could affect health on long-term exposure, especially in sensitized individuals.

Effect of Temperature on S32750 Duplex Steel Welded Joint Impact Toughness.

The search for alternative materials that can be used for parts of aircraft hydraulic systems has led to the idea of applying S32750 duplex steel for this purpose. This steel is mainly used in the oil and gas, chemical, and food industries. The reasons for this lie in this material's exceptional welding, mechanical, and corrosion resistance properties. In order to verify this material's suitability for aircraft engineering applications, it is necessary to investigate its behaviour at various temperatures since aircrafts operate at a wide range of temperatures. For this reason, the effect of temperatures in the range from +20 °C to -80 °C on impact toughness was investigated in the case of S32750 duplex steel and its welded joints. Testing was performed using an instrumented pendulum to obtain force-time and energy-time diagrams, which allowed for more detailed assessment of the effect of testing temperature on total impact energy and its components of crack initiation energy and crack propagation energy. Testing was performed on standard Charpy specimens extracted from base metal (BM), welded metal (WM), and the heat-affected zone (HAZ). The results of these tests indicated high values of both crack initiation and propagation energies at room temperature for all the zones (BM, WM, and HAZ) and sufficient levels of crack propagation and total impact energies above -50 °C. In addition, fractography was conducted through optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), indicating ductile vs. cleavage fracture surface areas, which corresponded well with the impact toughness values. The results of this research confirm that the use of S32750 duplex steel in the manufacturing of aircraft hydraulic systems has considerable potential, and future work should confirm this.

Influence of Welding Speed on Fracture Toughness of Friction Stir Welded AA2024-T351 Joints.

In order to ensure a quality welded joint, and thus safe operation and high reliability of the welded part or structure achieved by friction stir welding, it is necessary to select the optimal welding parameters. The parameters of friction stir welding significantly affect the structure of the welded joint, and thus the mechanical properties of the welded joint. Investigation of the influence of friction stir welding parameters was performed on 6-mm thick plates of aluminum alloy AA2024 T351. The quality of the welded joint is predominantly influenced by the tool rotation speed n and the welding speed v. In this research, constant tool rotation speed was adopted n = 750 rpm, and the welding speed was varied (v = 73, 116 and 150 mm/min). By the visual method and radiographic examination, imperfections of the face and roots of the welded specimens were not found. This paper presents the performed experimental tests of the macro and microstructure of welded joints, followed by tests of micro hardness and fracture behavior of Friction Stir Welded AA2024-T351 joints. It can be concluded that the welding speed of v = 116 mm/min is favorable with regard to the fracture behavior of the analysed FSW-joint.