Manufacture technology, mechanical and biocorrosion properties of the Zn and ZnMg0.008 alloy wires designed for biodegradable surgical threads

Abstract Technology for the production of soluble surgical threads with a diameter of 0.3 mm from the binary alloy Zn-0.008 wt.% Mg has been developed and some of the basic properties of the product have been determined. Thus, an effect of the deformation path applied during drawing (i.e., with and without any change in the drawing direction after each pass) were tested and the windows of technological parameters for the extrusion and drawing were determined. Mechanical properties in the air and the corrosion resistance in an environment simulating body fluids were determined both for the product and the intermediates from selected stages of the production route and compared to the ones of pure zinc. The mechanical tests included the two-way bending test, tensile test, and tensile stress relaxation tests of the wire without and with a surgical knot. It has been shown that the drawing deformation path and the surgical knot do not significantly influence the stress relaxation rate.