Preparation of Titanium Alloy Powder by Plasma Rotating Electrode Process

Abstract

Titanium alloy powders were prepared from titanium rods by plasma rotating electrode process (PREP). The effects of powder preparation technology on the morphology and properties of titanium alloy powders were studied by laser particle size analyzer, scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction, powder comprehensive property tester and oxygen nitrogen analyzer. The results shown that the titanium alloy powder prepared by PREP had uniform particle size distribution, sphericity >93% and oxygen content <1000 ppm. For TA1 powder, the phase’s structure was mainly composed of HCP-α phase, while the TC4 powder mainly composed of α' phase. During the preparation process, the particle size and sphericity of the alloy powder increased with the increase of electrode speed. The smaller the particle size and the higher the sphericity of the alloy powder, the larger the compacting density and bulk density, but the powders fluidity became worse. At the same time, the oxygen content of the titanium alloy powder increased with the decrease of the particle size, while the nitrogen content was not affected by the powder size. The oxygen content of the titanium alloy powder increased as the particle size became smaller, and the nitrogen content was not affected by the powder size.