Corrosion testing of sintered samples made of the Co-Cr-Mo alloy for surgical applications.

Corrosion resistance of high quality sintered compacts made of the Co-Cr-Mo alloy powder in manufacturing bone implants has been investigated. The samples met the characteristic mechanical requirements for this kind of implants, but the increased density of the porous material turned out to be crucial in the improvement of their corrosion resistance. It seems that the rotary cold repressing (RCR) of sintered compacts could be a very advantageous alternative to the single or multiple matrix pressing. The influence of cold repressing and the subsequent heat treatment of sintered compacts made of the Co-Cr-Mo powder on the changes of their density, microstructure, and corrosion resistance was investigated in this work.