Joining titanium materials with tungsten inert gas welding, laser welding, and infrared brazing

Titanium has a number of desirable properties for dental applications that include low density, excellent biocompatibility, and corrosion resistance. However, joining titanium is one of the practical problems with the use of titanium prostheses. Dissolved oxygen and hydrogen may cause severe embrittlement in titanium materials. Therefore the conventional dental soldering methods that use oxygen flame or air torch are not indicated for joining titanium materials. This study compared laser, tungsten inert gas, and infrared radiation heating methods for joining both pure titanium and Ti-6Al-4V alloy. Original rods that were not subjected to joining procedures were used as a control method. Mechanical tests and microstructure analysis were used to evaluate joined samples. Mechanical tests included Vickers microhardness and uniaxial tensile testing of the strength of the joints and percentage elongation. Two-way analysis of variance and Duncan's multiple range test were used to compare mean values of tensile strength and elongation for significant differences (p < or = 0.05). Tensile rupture occurred in the joint region of all specimens by cohesive failure. Ti-6Al-4V samples exhibited significantly greater tensile strength than pure titanium samples. Samples prepared by the three joining methods had markedly lower tensile elongation than the control titanium and Ti-6Al-4V rods. The changes in microstructure and microhardness were studied in the heat-affected and unaffected zones. Microhardness values increased in the heat-affected zone for all the specimens tested.