Ti-15Mo alloy prepared by cryogenic milling and spark plasma sintering

In this study, Ti-15Mo alloy powder was prepared by gas atomization and subsequent cryogenic milling in order to achieve ultra-fine grained microstructure. Both milled and non-milled powders were compacted by spark plasma sintering (SPS) at temperature of 800 °C for different sintering times up to 6 minutes. Sintering temperature and time affect porosity, microstructure and phase composition of the alloy. Milled powder can be sintered at comparatively lower temperature to achieve fully dense material. Sintering below β-transus temperature results in α+β-structure. Furthermore, amount of α-phase is higher in the material sintered from the milled powder due to increased oxygen content and also due to refined microstructure which facilitates α-phase precipitation. Mechanical properties are also affected by formation of ω-phase during uncontrolled cooling in the SPS machine