The objective of this study is to investigate the influence of powder shape and densification mechanism on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Ti-6Al-4V components. BE powders are uniaxially and isostatically pressed, and PA ones are injection molded because of their high strengths. The isostatically compacted samples exhibit a density of 80%, which is higher than those of other samples, because hydrostatic compression can lead to higher strain hardening. Owing to the higher green density, the density of BE-CS (97%) is found to be as high as that of other samples (BE-DS (95%) and P-S (94%)). Furthermore, we have found that BE powders can be consolidated by sintering densification and chemical homogenization, whereas PA ones can be consolidated only by simple densification. After sintering, BE-CS and P-S are hot isostatically pressed and BE-DS is hot forged to remove residual pores in the sintered samples. Apparent microstructural evolution is not observed in BE-CSH and P-SH. Moreover, BE-DSF exhibits significantly fine grains and high density of low-angle grain boundaries. Thus, these microstructures provide Ti-6Al-4V components with enhanced mechanical properties (tensile strength of 1179 MPa).

The objective of this study is to reveal the sintering mechanism of mixed Ti-6Al-4V powders considering the densification and the homogenization between Ti and Al/V particles. It is found that the addition of master alloy particles into Ti enhances densification by the migration of Al into the Ti matrix prior to the self-diffusion of Ti. However, as Ti particles become coarser, sintering of the powders appears to be retarded due to slower inter-diffusion of the particles due to the reduced surface energies of Ti. Such phenomena are confirmed by a series of dilatometry tests and microstructural analyses in respect to the sintering temperature. Furthermore, the results are also consistent with the predicted activation energies for sintering. The energies are found to have decreased from 299.35 to 135.48 kJ·mol^-1 by adding the Al/V particles because the activation energy for the diffusion of Al in α-Ti (77 kJ·mol^-1) is much lower than that of the self-diffusion of α-Ti. The coarser Ti powders increase the energies from 135.48 to 181.16 kJ·mol^-1 because the specific surface areas of Ti decrease.

The effects of processing parameters on the flow behavior and microstructures were investigated in hot compression of powder metallurgy (P/M) Ti-6Al-4V alloy. The alloy was fabricated by a blended elemental (B/E) approach and it exhibited lamellar α+β microstructure. The hot compression tests were performed in the range of temperature 800-1000°C with 50°C intervals, strain rate 10⁻⁴-10 s⁻¹, and strain up to 0.5. At 800-950°C, continuous flow softening after a peak stress was observed with strain rates lower than 0.1 s⁻¹. At strain rates higher than 1 s⁻¹, rapid drop in flow stress with strain hardening or broad oscillations was recorded. The processing map of P/M Ti-6Al-4V was designed based on the compression test and revealed the peak efficiency at 850°C and 0.001 s⁻¹. As the processing temperature increased, the volume fraction of β phase was increased. In addition, below 950°C, the globularization of phase at the slower strain rate and kinking microstructures were found. Based on these data, the preferred working condition of the alloy may be in the range of 850-950°C and strain rate of 0.001-0.01 s⁻¹.

Citations

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