Mechanical Alloying of Ti-Based Materials

Abstract

Mechanical alloying (MA) is a simple and versatile dry powder processing technique that has been used for the manufacture of both equilibrium and metastable phases of commercially useful and scientifically interesting materials. It owes its origin to an industry need to develop a nickel-based super alloy for gas turbine applications that had both oxide dispersion strengthening and precipitation hardening. This far-from equilibrium powder metallurgy processing technique involves fracturing, welding and re-welding of powder particles in a High Energy Ball Mill (HEBM). MA is an economically viable process with important technical advantages. Its utmost advantage is in the synthesis of novel alloys, e.g., alloying of ordinarily immiscible elements, that is not possible by any other technique. As MA is a completely solid-state processing technique, the limitations imposed by phase diagrams do not apply to it. The MA process is capable of producing different types of metastable effects in a variety of alloy systems. Some of the metastable effects achieved by MA are solid solution formation and amorphisation. MA has the possibility of producing superior and enhanced materials than those produces by conventional methods. In this work a review of MA and its present and potential applications for Ti-based materials are presented.