INFLUENCE OF BLENDED ELEMENTAL ALUMINUM AND TITANIUM-ALUMINUM MASTER ALLOY ADDITIONS ON THE SINTERING BEHAVIOUR OF TITANIUM – 6 ALUMINUM ALLOY

Abstract

Despite their attractive properties Titanium alloys have limited use in automotive applications due to their high cost. Processing low-cost Ti powder sources through a blended elemental or master alloy powder metallurgy route can reduce cost. This work focuses on the study of the effect of blended elemental and master alloyed Aluminum additions on homogeneity and density during sintering of a Ti6Al alloy. Differential scanning calorimetry, dilatometry, and microscopy are used to study the impact of the Al powder source, size and chemical purity. The combined analysis techniques show that the homogenization is faster with fine blended elemental powder reaching the full homogenized stage after 15 minutes. The densification is better with fine TiAl addition, with an axial shrinkage of over 4%, resulting in an overall densification of more than 12%. These results will help to increase the usage of Titanium alloys and the development of new alloys.