Consolidation and mechanical properties of powder injection molded Ti-6Al-4V components using prealloyed powders

Abstract

The densification behaviour of prealloyed Ti-6Al-4V powders is investigated by means of dilatometry to determine the shrinkage of the samples. When the powder compact is heated at 1350oC for 2hrs, it is found that the relative density is 0.938 of theoretical and the corresponding grain size is 178.07μm. The effects of heating rate and sintering temperature on the microstructures and mechanical properties of Ti-6Al-4V alloys are also investigated. It is observed that the density and the properties are more influenced by the temperature rather than the rate. Otherwise, the grain size is decreased as the heating rate is increased and the temperature is reduced. Therefore, the mechanical properties appear to be more dependent upon the porosity than the grain size.