Sintering High Green Density Direct Powder Rolled Titanium Strips, in Argon Atmosphere

Abstract

Presently, the majority of titanium powder metallurgy components produced are sintered under high vacuum due to the associated benefits of the vacuum atmosphere. However, high-vacuum sintering is a batch process, which limits daily production. A higher daily part production is achievable via a continuous sintering process, which uses argon gas to shield the part from air contamination. To date, there has been limited work published on argon gas sintering of titanium in short durations. This study investigated the properties of thin high green density titanium strips, which were sintered at the temperatures of 1100 °C, 1200 °C and 1300 °C for a duration of 30 min, 60 min and 90 min in argon. The strips were produced by rolling of −45 µm near ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) grade 3 hydride–dehydride commercially pure titanium powder. The density, hardness, tensile properties and microstructure of the sintered strips were assessed. It was found that near-full densities, between 96 and 99%, are attainable after 30–90 min of sintering. The optimum sintering temperature range was found to be 1100–1200 °C, as this produced the highest elongation of 4–5.5%. Sintering at 1300 °C resulted in lower elongation due to higher contaminant pick-up.