Effect of particle size distribution on green properties and sintering of Ti-6Al-4V

Abstract

In this study, the conventional powder metallurgy route of pressing and sintering was employed to study the effects of the particle size of blended elemental Ti-6Al-4V powders on the properties of powder mixtures, green and sintered densities. The -45 μm and -150 μm 60Al-40V master alloy powder were blended with the titanium powder to produce the -45 μm and -150 μm Ti-6Al-4V blend. Powders were pressed at 580 to 870 MPa and sintered in a tube furnace. Taguchi method was used to optimise the sintering parameters, temperature and time, and ANOVA was employed to determine the significant parameters and their contribution to the sintered density. The optimum parameters maximising the density were found to be sintering temperature of 1300 °C and sintering time of 180 mins, for both particle sizes. The green density was higher for the coarser powder and the sintered density was higher for the finer powder.