Preparation of nano/micro-bimodal Ti/Al/(Mo, W, Cu) powders by simultaneous electrical explosion of dissimilar metal wires

Novel mixtures of micro- and nanoparticles have been obtained by simultaneous electrical explosion of three intertwisted wires (EEW). The possibility of obtaining of titanium‑aluminum micro- and nanoparticles alloyed with molybdenum, tungsten and copper by the electrical explosion of Ti/Al/(Mo, W, Cu – up to 6 at. %) wires has been shown. Spherical particle with sizes from 20 nm to 7 μm are formed under condition of introducing the electric energy at the level of 0.57–0.77 of the total sublimation energy. The mass content of particles with sizes less than 100 nm does not exceed 10%. The phase composition of powders includes double and triple intermetallic phases, titanium oxide (TiO) as well as phases of the initial metals. The study of the phase composition of bulk materials obtained by sintering powders Ti-Al-Mo, Ti-Al-W and Ti-Al-Cu for 2 h at 1000 °C showed the increase in the content of intermetallic phases, providing enhanced physical and mechanical properties of the titanium‑aluminum alloys. The results of the studies show that the obtained powders alloys can be used to produce feedstocks of TiAl alloys