Improvement of sintering behaviour of titanium by colloidal techniques

The conventional sintering of titanium requires high temperatures to obtain high densities and low porosity, giving rise to microstructures with high grain size, and high interstitial contents, both of which adversely affect the mechanical properties obtained. A novel approach is reported which uses fine (10 µm) spherical Ti powder to improve the sintering behaviour, together with a small percentage of alumina particles (0·5 µm) to restrict grain growth. Colloidal techniques were used to form spherical agglomerates, 50‐300 µm in size, of Ti powder with alumina particles dispersed homogenously on the Ti surface. These agglomerates present good compressibility and make it possible to sinter effectively at low temperatures, increasing the relative density and decreasing grain sizeThe authors acknowledgement the financial support from Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through projects MAT 2009-14448-C01, and MAT 2009-14448-C02. This is an edited version of a presentation at Euro PM 2012, organised by EPMA in Basel, Switzerland on 16–19 October 2012.Publicad