PM TITANIUM

The conventional cold-com-

paction-and-sinter powder
metallurgy (PM) approach

COLD COMPACTION AND offers an attractive solution

to the near-net shape or
preform fabrication of titani-
SINTERING OF TITANIUM um and its alloys for cost
reduction and/or improved

AND ITS ALLOYS FOR chemical homogeneity and

refined microstructures.
However, the potential of
NEAR-NET-SHAPE OR the process is yet to be real-
ized as a viable industrial

PREFORM FABRICATION approach. Kroll first com-

pacted and sintered 14
titanium alloys in 1937,
Ma Qian* followed by significant
efforts from DuPont during
the formative years of the
titanium industry in the
INTRODUCTION U.S., and persistent efforts
Titanium and its alloys are advanced structural materials that pos- from many researchers
sess an outstanding array of properties not readily achievable with thereafter. This article out-
other materials. However, structural applications have been limited to lines a historical account of
a few industries such as aerospace, chemical processing, power gener- PM titanium and reviews
ation, and offshore drilling on a limited scale (2009 world titanium the major characteristics of
sponge output ~115,000 mt). The major reason has been their cost- the approach for fabrication,
including the mechanical
affordability. The high cost of a component arises from the cost of tita-
properties obtainable from
nium as well as that of the manufacturing process, which in many
the process. Future direc-
cases determines the consumption level. Historically, titanium compo- tions to realize its commer-
nents are machined from wrought stock, with an average material uti- cial potential are recom-
lization factor of 10%–15%.1,2 For example, aerospace parts makers mended with respect to both
currently buy about eight times as much titanium as is needed for the currently available and
finished part utilizing ingot metallurgy and forging.3 The target set by emerging titanium powder
Lockheed Martin for the F-35 joint strike fighter (JSF) program is to products.
reduce this buy-to-fly ratio to 5:1,2 which still results in 80% scrap. The
high material losses, coupled with machining costs and expensive start-
ing stock, provide an attractive economic motive for near-net- or even
net-shape processes.1
There are also compelling processing advantages as titanium is diffi-
cult to machine and not easy to recycle by remelting. Also, unlike other
metals, molten titanium reacts with most gas atmospheres and with
most metallic and non-metallic materials that would otherwise serve as
crucible materials in melting. It is also challenging to maintain liquid-
metal flow over severe changes in dimension or direction within the
mold cavity.4 The skull technique, which operates through the mainte-
nance of a solid layer of titanium between the crucible and molten
metal, requires careful control of the melting process, where the arc is
directed to the center of the charge to maintain the correct temperature
gradient between the molten titanium and the crucible walls. To pre-
vent atmospheric contamination, an argon atmosphere is sustained in
the crucible and the mold. Casting, even to a simple shape, is still a

*Reader in Materials, The University of Queensland, School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering, ARC Centre of Excellence for Design in Light
Metals, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia; E-mail: ma.qian@uq.edu.au

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International Journal of Powder Metallurgy
29
COLD COMPACTION AND SINTERING OF TITANIUM AND ITS ALLOYS FOR NEAR-NET-SHAPE OR PREFORM FABRICATION
complicated endeavor.4 Conventional shape cast-
ing is thus impractical for titanium due to these
adverse factors, which are unique to this metal.
This reinforces the attractiveness of PM. In addi-
tion, there are improved constitutional (enhanced
chemical homogeneity) and microstructural (finer
grain size) advantages with titanium parts made
from powders.5
In principle, a titanium component can be fabri-
cated through a variety of PM techniques. These
include cold compaction and sintering, sintering
and hot working, direct powder rolling or extru-
sion, hot pressing and machining, hot isostatic
pressing (HIPing), metal injection molding (MIM),
and sintering. Some PM processes may be regard-
ed as mainstream while others as second order.
The cold-compaction-and-sintering process is
technically the simplest and economically the
most attractive near-net-shape or preform PM fab-
rication approach, compatible with non-fatigue-
critical applications. This review discusses the
major characteristics of the process and cites
future directions for anticipated applications.
HISTORY
The first documented attempts to fabricate tita-
nium alloys from powders were made in 1937 by
Kroll,6 who switched from Hunter’s sodium reduc-
tion approach to the use of calcium and then to
magnesium.7 The magnesium reduction approach
allowed Kroll to produce ~0.5 kg batches of powder
or sponge fines.7,8 Kroll subsequently compacted
and sintered 14 binary titanium alloys in argon,
with additions ranging from 2 w/o to 9 w/o. He
then hot-rolled the sintered cylinders (19 mm dia.)
into strips ~1 mm thick to assess their ductility.6
Kroll presented his magnesium-reduction
approach at the 1940 autumn meeting of the
Electrochemical Society in Ottawa.7,8 Kroll’s
enthusiasm promoted a lengthy R&D program at
the U.S. Bureau of Mines to industrialize the mag-
nesium reduction process.7,8
Dean et al.9 were able to produce 7.5 kg batch-
es of powder with a purity sufficient to be consoli-
dated into ductile titanium and published a semi-
nal paper in 1946.9 The results of this program
provide an important basis for understanding and
exploiting titanium PM. By 1947, the U.S. Bureau
of Mines had successfully piloted several impor-
tant modifications to the original Kroll process and
produced 2 mt of titanium sponge.10 In 1948,
based on the Bureau’s work, DuPont built the
30
world’s first sponge production plant in the U.S.10
and produced 3 mt of sponge (>99% pure) in the
same year.11 This, together with the 1st Titanium
Symposium in Washington, D.C., in 1948, which
attracted 200 industrial, technical, government,
and military leaders, marked “the birth of titanium
in the United States as a metal of industrial
stature.”7,10 Commercial production of titanium
sponge followed suit in the UK, Japan, and the
U.S.S.R in 1951,12 1952,13 and 1954,14 respec-
tively, and titanium emerged as a tonnage struc-
tural metal in these countries.
Following Dean et al.,9 Bickerdike and
Sutcliffe15 produced titanium powders in 100 g
batch sizes in the UK and fabricated dense bars by
sintering the powder compacts in vacuum at
1,200°C for 16 h. A tensile elongation up to 33.2%
was attained at room temperature after cold ham-
mering the sintered material to essentially its
pore-free density (4.49 g/cm3), followed by 2 h
annealing at 800°C. Close attention was given to
the influence of impurities, in particular carbon,
iron, oxygen, nickel, and silicon. Goetzel16
reviewed titanium PM up to 1950. A wide variety of
binary alloys were sintered that contained up to 20
w/o cobalt, chromium, molybdenum, tantalum, or
tungsten, up to 5 w/o of aluminum, magnesium,
or vanadium, and up to 1 w/o boron, beryllium,
indium, or silicon. The sintered alloys were
cold/hot worked or swaged under various condi-
tions, and tested in both the worked and annealed
states for tensile properties, hardness, and electri-
cal resistivity.
A multiyear R&D program focusing on the pro-
cessing of titanium powder directly to commercial-
grade mill products was undertaken by DuPont
from 1950 to 1962. Using a commercial-size facil-
ity, mature technologies were developed through-
out the 1950s to make sheet, bar, tubing, and
other shapes by the direct powder rolling or extru-
sion of hydrostatically compacted billets, followed
by sintering and annealing as necessary.10 High-
quality products with superior surface finish were
produced and a tonnage PM industry looked prom-
ising. The near-net-shape PM route for mill prod-
ucts was initiated to achieve cost reductions by
negating the melting operation. Unfortunately,
DuPont curtailed the activity in 1962 because of
an unexpected technical issue;10 it was found that
the residual chlorides in the mill products origi-
nating from the titanium powder volatilized rapid-
ly during fusion welding, leading to a build-up on
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International Journal of Powder Metallurgy
COLD COMPACTION AND SINTERING OF TITANIUM AND ITS ALLOYS FOR NEAR-NET-SHAPE OR PREFORM FABRICATION
the welding electrode that resulted in inconsistent
weld quality.10 Consequently, the company con-
cluded that their products would not be competi-
tive vis-à-vis melted and wrought products.10 It
was likely that DuPont’s products were adequate
for some applications. To avoid the chlorine-
induced weldability issue, the chlorine content
needs to be <50 ppm, which, at that time, was
judged to be impractical or too costly.10
Along with DuPont’s direct powder-conversion
efforts, several cold-compacted-and-sintered com-
mercially pure (CP) titanium PM parts were intro-
duced to the market on a commercial basis by
1956. Examples included bearing housings, valve
trims, and reverts, with some parts reportedly
weighing up to 2.7 kg.17 It was clear to the titani-
um community that, at that time, CP titanium PM
parts could be fabricated with properties equiva-
lent to those of materials forged from ingots. In
addition, the advantages of PM over arc-melting
and forging were appreciated in product forms as
a result of these developments. For example, it was
established that to make a bearing housing of one
pound by arc-melting and forging would require
3.6–4.5 kg of sponge while PM methods would
require only 0.86 kg of starting material, or even
less.17 The resulting end-cost savings were
20%–25%. These practical evaluations encouraged
continued interest in titanium PM, despite a few
severe supply-and-demand swings beginning in
the late 1950s.10
A large number of titanium PM parts were fabri-
cated from blended elemental (BE) or prealloyed
powders by the mid-1980s.1,5,18,19 Additionally,
the static and dynamic properties of various PM
versions of Ti-6Al-4V were evaluated,1,18,19 reflect-
ing different levels of residual chlorides. The
results of these efforts confirmed that the use of
quality powder allows for most of the mechanical
properties of Ti-6Al-4V PM to equate with those of
the cast and wrought levels,1,18,19 with the excep-
tion of fatigue properties. Other alloys were simi-
larly fabricated via different PM methods and eval-
uated.18,19 Thus, by the mid-1980s titanium PM
was established technically from a R&D perspec-
tive after almost four decades of persistent efforts,
although industrialization remained sluggish.
Notable industrial advances were made by the
Toyota Central R&D Laboratories, Inc., from 1989
to 1998,20 and initiated PM titanium metal matrix
composite (MMC) design in 1989; the Ti-TiB sys-
tem was identified in 1990. After several years of
Volume 46, Issue 5, 2010
International Journal of Powder Metallurgy
development, Toyota released a new mass-pro-
duced family car, the Altezza, in 1998 with Ti-TiB
intake and exhaust engine valves.21 In 2000, the
Yamaha Motor Co. followed suit and released a
new mass-produced motorbike with similar Ti-TiB
engine valves.22
Manufacture of these Ti-TiB engine valves starts
with conventional cold compaction and sintering
to fabricate Ti-TiB MMC billets from BE powder
mixes. These billet preforms are then extruded and
forged into near-net-shaped engine valves and fin-
ished by machining.21 Toyota has been manufac-
turing these PM-based titanium engine valves
commercially since 2000 and currently produces
~10,000 pieces/month for Yamaha motorcycles
and Toyota sports cars.22 This is the first tonnage
application of titanium PM since Kroll.
With improvements to the Kroll process and
developments in melting techniques, the early
1990s saw the shutdown of two major Hunter
sponge plants: RMI closed its Hunter sponge plant
in the U.S. in 1992 and Deeside Titanium followed
suit in 1993.23 Since then Hunter sponge has been
essentially out of the market for structural applica-
tions and various powder products are now made
from Kroll sponge. Honeywell remains a major
Hunter sponge producer, with a facility in Salt
Lake City that has a capacity of ~340 mt annual-
ly.24 The Hunter sponge produced by Honeywell is
refined electrolytically to 99.999% purity and is the
source of metal in integrated circuits.25
Several novel production processes have been
under development over the last decade that pro-
duce spongy titanium powders as direct prod-
ucts.26 Of these, the Armstrong process is sched-
uled for commercial production in September
2010 with a subsequent scale-up to 2,000 mt of
titanium powder annually in 2011.27 These novel
powder products have the potential to enhance
applications if they turn out to be competitive in
the market.
COLD COMPACTION
The methods for compacting titanium powder
are similar to those used for other ductile powders.
In fact, high-purity titanium in the most ductile
state is similar to annealed copper in terms of elas-
tic modulus, hardness, elongation, and ultimate
tensile strength. Table I lists property data for
high-purity titanium, annealed copper, and iron.
However, the properties of titanium are sensitive
to the impurity level, in particular to nitrogen,
31
COLD COMPACTION AND SINTERING OF TITANIUM AND ITS ALLOYS FOR NEAR-NET-SHAPE OR PREFORM FABRICATION
oxygen, carbon, and iron. Nitrogen and oxygen
originate from magnesium, TiCl4, argon gas, and
air during sponge production while carbon and
iron originate primarily from magnesium, TiCl4,
the steel reactor vessels, and other processing
facilities.28 Hardness is a convenient measure of
the quality of a titanium sponge product and the
influence of 15 common impurities on the hard-
ness of titanium has been established. Sumitomo’s
high-purity powder products (TILOP-45H) specify
14 impurities, Table III. Statistical analyses sug-
gest that the Brinell hardness (HB) of titanium
sponge obeys an approximate relationship with
impurity levels given by:11,28
______ ______ ______
HB =______
196 w/o N + 158 w/o O + 45 w/o C +
20 w/o Fe + 57 (1)
The relationship presumably applies to powder
products that are made from the sponge. High-
purity iodide titanium produced by the de
Boer–Fast approach7 from titanium sponge typi-
cally contains <0.1 w/o impurities, with each
impurity falling in specific ranges: 0.007–0.008
w/o N, <0.05 w/o O, 0.005 w/o C, 0.002–0.006
w/o Fe, 0.003–0.009 w/o Mg, 0.001–0.0075 w/o
Al, 0.0006–0.001 w/o Si, 0.001–0.005 w/o Mn,
0.0001–0.0004 w/o Ni, and <0.0001 w/o Cr.28
As with the green-shape formation of other met-
als, small parts can be compacted uniaxially in
closed steel dies using standard presses. For large
and complex parts, however, cold isostatic pressing
(CIPing) may have to be used,29 in which process
pressure is applied from multiple directions permit-
ting increased green-shape-making capability with
enhanced uniformity in green density.
Figure 1 shows the relationship between com-
paction pressure (up to ~1,400 MPa) and the
attendant green density for CP titanium powder
TABLE I. PROPERTY DATA FOR HIGH-PURITY TITANIUM,
ANNEALED COPPER, AND IRON*
Property Metal
Ti Cu
Brinell Hardness 70 — 146
Vickers Hardness 60 50
Yield Strength (MPa) 140 33.3
Ultimate Tensile Strength (MPa) 220 210
Elongation (%) 54 60
Modulus of Elasticity (GPa) 116 110
*Matweb Materials Property Data, http://www/matweb.com
32
Figure 1. Pressing characteristics of sponge titanium powder (-595 m with
<15% -74 m).9 Redrawn with permission from The Minerals, Metals & Materials
Society (TMS)
products made from the Kroll process.9 The oxy-
gen and nitrogen contents were estimated to be
<0.1 w/o each, based on hardness.9 The increase
in green density with compaction pressure is rapid
up to 690 MPa and slows down thereafter. At 690
MPa, the powder compression ratio is ~3.5 to 1,
resulting in >80% of the pore-free density.9
Figures 2 and 3 show the influence of nitrogen
and oxygen on the compaction of CP titanium pow-
der, plotted using data reported by Lim et al.30
Increasing nitrogen or oxygen levels lead to a sig-
nificant reduction in green density because of the
increased hardness of the powder. Nevertheless,
the powder is still compactable with 1.51 w/o N or
1.34 w/o O. However, significant particle cracking
was observed at high nitrogen or oxygen levels
during compaction, rather than appreciable plas-
tic deformation.30 Nitrogen showed a stronger
effect than oxygen, consistent with Eq. (1). Owing
to its sensitivity to oxygen and nitrogen, unlike
other metal powders, the particle size of titanium
powder may exert a unique effect on powder com-
paction since the propensity for picking up oxygen
and nitrogen at temperatures 300°C increases
with decreasing particle size.
Fe Powder morphology affects powder flow, tap
density, and compaction behavior;29,31 and plays
150 an important role in the consolidation process and
50 parameter selection. Imam and Froes32 recently
540 cited nine different titanium powder morphologies
— resulting from various processes, and a timeline
200 for the development of processes to produce vari-
ous types of titanium powder is given in Ref. 31. Of
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 COLD COMPACTION AND SINTERING OF TITANIUM AND ITS ALLOYS FOR NEAR-NET-SHAPE OR PREFORM FABRICATION

Figure 2. Effect of nitrogen content on compaction of titanium powder at a
compaction pressure of 927 MPa.30 Sumitomo hydride–dehydride TSP-100
powder was nitrided in pure nitrogen to increase nitrogen content. As-received
powder particles are irregular in shape with a mean particle size 53 m. Figures
in brackets are oxygen contents of the powders
Figure 3. Effect of oxygen content on compaction of titanium powder at a
compaction pressure of 927 MPa.30 Sumitomo hydride–dehydride TSP-100
powder was oxidized in air to increase oxygen content. As-received powder
particles are irregular in shape with a mean particle size 53 m. Figures in
brackets are nitrogen contents of the powders

Figure 4. (a) dendritic “coral-like” titanium powder produced by International Titanium Powder (Armstrong process), (b) green density and sintered
density (1 h at 1,300ºC) as a function of compaction pressure (Armstrong powder). Courtesy of Brian Fuller, International Titanium Powder

these, the Armstrong powder is a novel product
that has a dendritic “coral-like” morphology,
Figure 4(a). The powder appears to require the use
of a high compaction pressure ( 1,100 MPa) to
attain >80% of the pore-free density, Figure 4(b);
this compares with a 600–800 MPa compaction-
pressure range for sponge fines or HDH powder.
Compacts made from Armstrong powder are
expected to exhibit excellent green strength
because of strong particle interlocking.
The compaction behavior of a titanium-alloy
powder mix is, in general, determined by the base-
metal powder but may be affected by the form of
the alloying additions. It has been found that
blended elemental powder mixes are easier to
press than mixes with master alloy powder addi-
tions.33 Brittle titanium hydride (TiH2) powder is
harder than CP titanium powder but it can be
readily pressed to >80% of the pore-free density,
since the TiH2 powder particles fracture into finer

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International Journal of Powder Metallurgy
33
COLD COMPACTION AND SINTERING OF TITANIUM AND ITS ALLOYS FOR NEAR-NET-SHAPE OR PREFORM FABRICATION
pieces at pressures >250 MPa.33 The high green
density obtainable from cold pressing various
types of titanium powder ensures adequate green
strength, and therefore facilitates safe and rapid
ejection from the die.
Unlike aluminum,34 titanium powder exhibits
minimal seizing and galling of steel dies when com-
pacted. Internal lubrication or powder lubrication
is thus not used for titanium PM, in order to avoid
interfering with the subsequent sintering process
as well as contamination.5,35 However, excessive
friction during pressing may lead to an inhomoge-
neous green-density distribution, increased ejec-
tion forces and reduced die life.36 A recent assess-
ment of the effect of powder lubrication on the cold
compaction of CP titanium powder showed that
lubrication has a distinct effect on both the fric-
tional properties of the powder as well as the abil-
ity to achieve desired green densities.37 In contrast
to powder lubrication, die-wall lubrication with
commercial PM lubricants such as zinc and lithi-
um stearates or Acrawax is generally acceptable in
reducing both die wear and ejection forces.
CONVENTIONAL SINTERING
Titanium and its alloys are unique in their suit-
ability for sintering.10 This is because the thin
oxide and/or nitride layers on the powder surfaces
can readily dissolve above 500°C–550°C10,15 or
700°C.28,38 Oxygen and nitrogen have different
solubility limits in !-titanium and "-titanium.
Table II summarizes solubility data extracted from
binary-phase diagrams.39,40 In the sintering tem-
perature range (1,200°C–1,350°C), the solubility of
oxygen in "-titanium varies from 1.75 w/o to 2.25
w/o while that of nitrogen varies from 0.5 w/o to
0.9 w/o. Both oxygen and nitrogen increase the c
value of the !-titanium lattice but the a value
remains essentially constant.28 Reactions between
titanium and oxygen or nitrogen are slow below
500°C but accelerate significantly above 500°C.28
In the case of titanium oxide, early work indicat-
TABLE II. SOLUBILITY LIMITS OF OXYGEN AND NITROGEN IN
-TITANIUM AND !-TITANIUM (ESTIMATED FROM Ti-O AND Ti-N PHASE
DIAGRAMS39,40)
Element Maximum Solubility Maximum Solubility Solubility in -Titanium
in !-Titanium in -Titanium from 1,200°C to 1,350°C
(w/o) (w/o) (w/o)
Oxygen 14.25 at ~600°C 2.75 at ~1,720°C 1.75–2.25
Nitrogen 7.6 at ~1,083°C 2.1 at ~1,995°C 0.5–0.9
34
ed that the oxide film on titanium powder
disappears around 550°C in !-titanium.15
Subsequent work by Watanabe and Horikoshi41
revealed that it took about 60 min for the oxide
film to disappear on loose titanium powder
surfaces at 1,000°C (" phase). Mo et al.28 pointed
out that significant dissolution of the oxide film in
titanium began at about 700°C. The diffusion coef-
ficient of oxygen in titanium is a few orders of mag-
nitude faster than in TiO2 in both the !- and "-
phase regions.41 Hence, the oxide film may disap-
pear in either region, depending on the heating
rate. The solubility of oxygen in !-titanium is,
however, several times greater than that in "-tita-
nium over a wide temperature range (oxygen can
stabilize !-titanium up to ~1,885°C).39 In conse-
quence, no oxide or nitride barrier will exist at the
isothermal sintering temperature (1,200°C–
1,350°C). Solid-state sintering of titanium powder
compacts is thus essentially an interparticle-diffu-
sion-bonding process.10 It should be noted that
diffusion bonding is a commercially viable fabrica-
tion technique for titanium while it is not common-
ly used for other structural metals as the persist-
ent oxide films on these metals prevent diffusion.
Hollow fan or compressor blades used in aero
engines are fabricated via the diffusion bonding of
titanium sheets at Rolls-Royce.42
Because of the self-cleaning process that occurs
on the surfaces of titanium powder particles dur-
ing heating, the sintering of titanium is fundamen-
tally a straightforward process. In practice, chal-
lenges encountered originate from either the impu-
rities in the powder or the reactivity of titanium at
elevated temperatures.
Sintering Atmosphere
The first sintering trials by Kroll in 1937 were
carried out in argon at 6,667 Pa pressure.6
Subsequent work by Dean and co-workers9 con-
cluded that sintering of sponge fines requires the
use of a vacuum ~10-2 Pa to remove the hydrogen
absorbed during leaching, distill residual magne-
sium, and protect titanium from oxygen and nitro-
gen. Helium protects the metal from oxygen and
nitrogen but does not permit hydrogen and mag-
nesium to be effectively removed.9
The various phenomena observed during the
vacuum sintering of sponge fines are shown in
Figure 5. Hydrogen can be removed above 600°C
while the effective removal of magnesium requires
temperatures >1,000°C. A thorough removal of the
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 COLD COMPACTION AND SINTERING OF TITANIUM AND ITS ALLOYS FOR NEAR-NET-SHAPE OR PREFORM FABRICATION
Figure 5. Effect of sintering temperature on weight loss, void space, hydrogen
evolution and hardness. Samples were made from sponge powder with a
maximum particle size of 595 m and 15%–20% 75 m particles compacted
at 690 MPa.9 Redrawn with permission from The Minerals, Metals & Materials
Society (TMS)
volatiles is essential to attain full densification.
The removal of hydrogen, magnesium, and other
volatiles gives rise to a weight loss.
Although vacuum sintering is preferred from a
densification perspective, it is a batch process. In
addition, leaks at high sintering temperatures
(~1,300°C) may occur unexpectedly leading to
rejection of the entire workload. Thus production
sintering of titanium and its alloys has been per-
formed in argon in a continuous-belt sintering fur-
nace. Examples are the sintering of titanium mill
products in the 1950s10 and the sintering of Ti-TiB
preforms since 2000.22 To ensure adequate protec-
tion against oxidation in argon, commercially pure
argon must be further purified before entering the
hot zone. This may be realized by allowing the pure
argon to pass over heated titanium chips
(800°C–1,000°C) or to pass through a separate
tube containing titanium sponge preheated to a
similar temperature.43 Alternatively, the oxygen
partial pressure can be controlled through the use
of a carbon-fiber belt and/or graphite walls in the
furnace. The Oxynon furnace44 for high-
temperature sintering ( 1,100°C) is one such
example. It has been used for the sintering of tita-
nium in argon since 2002.
A recent comparison of the sintering behavior of
three different CP Ti powders in argon and vacuum
revealed that sintering in argon resulted in much
lower tensile properties than did sintering in vacu-
um, although the sintered densities were similar
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International Journal of Powder Metallurgy
and the oxygen and nitrogen contents after sinter-
ing in argon using an Oxynon furnace were lower.45
This highlights the difference between sintering in
argon and vacuum. An in-depth understanding of
the sintering behavior of titanium powder in argon
compared with vacuum sintering is needed in rela-
tion to the influence of common impurities.
Racking Materials for Sintering
Titanium reacts with most materials at high sin-
tering temperatures. As a result, it adheres to
most support materials, resulting in contamina-
tion of the alloy and adhesion to the support.
Therefore, an appropriate support material must
be used for the sintering of titanium and its alloys.
Unfortunately, options are limited to only two
materials, namely, molybdenum, because of its
low solubility in titanium and its ability to retain
strength at sintering temperatures, and Y2O3
because of its inertness to titanium. In most cases,
the use of Y2O3 plates or a Y2O3 coating is compat-
ible with the solid-state sintering of titanium and
its alloys.
Liquid-phase sintering of titanium alloys can be
more problematic in terms of the support materi-
al. A detailed assessment of the lining material
used in the molten-metal pour tubes for gas atom-
ization of titanium confirmed that Y2O3 was the
most promising material.46 Even so, significant
contamination of the powder by yttrium occurred,
which exceeded the limit (50 ppm) required by
ASTM F1472 for surgical implant applications.
Accordingly, the use of Y2O3 has been excluded in
the processing of titanium and its alloys for
implant applications.46 This remains as a chal-
lenging issue. At this time, no other options are
available as an alternative material to Y2O3.
Sintering of CP Titanium
As noted previously, the solid-state sintering of
titanium is essentially a diffusion-bonding
process. The hardness profile shown in Figure 5
implies that the sintering of CP titanium starts to
develop at ~700°C in the !-phase region.
Dilatometric studies of the sintering of titanium–
nickel alloys show similar observations47,48 and
confirm that oxide films on titanium powder sur-
faces do not need to be reduced by the atmosphere
or disrupted by a chemical additive.35 Since diffu-
sion bonding develops only when the oxide films
have disappeared, the results generally support
the conclusion that significant dissolution of the
35
COLD COMPACTION AND SINTERING OF TITANIUM AND ITS ALLOYS FOR NEAR-NET-SHAPE OR PREFORM FABRICATION

oxide films in titanium occurs at ~700°C.18,28 The
other dissolution temperature invoked (500°C),15
appears to be too low.
Isothermal sintering of CP titanium is normally
conducted between 1,250°C and 1,350°C for 2 to 4
h. Sintered densities ~95% of the pore-free level
are not difficult to achieve but levels 98% will
require the use of fine powder (<45 µm) and/or a
high compaction pressure.31,37,49 As in the sinter-
ing of any powder, a reduction in particle size
increases the sintering rate and sintered density of
titanium and its alloys because of the higher
driving force and smaller pores present in the
green state.
Recent trials using titanium hydride (TiH2) pow-
der rather than CP titanium powder to produce CP
titanium by sintering have shown encouraging
results.50 The use of TiH2 powder (<44 µm,
compacted at 700 MPa) resulted in 99% of the
pore-free density after 4 h at 1,200°C.50 This is a
significant result compared with the sintering of
CP titanium powder at 1,200°C which normally
results 95%–96% of the pore-free density (<44 µm,
compacted at 700 MPa).
The activation energy for the self-diffusion of
!-titanium ranges from 169 to 192 kJ mol-151 and
from 131 to 328 kJ mol-1 for the self-diffusion of
"-titanium.47 There is an increase in volume
(5.5%) corresponding to the ! # " transforma-
tion.28 In addition, titanium exhibits diffusional
anisotropy over the !-titanium range, and it shows
anomalous Arrhenius behavior in the "-titanium
range.52,53 As a result, attempts have been made
to take advantage of the ! # " transformation to
enhance the sintering of titanium, for example, by
cyclically heating the powder compacts around the
transformation temperature 882°C.54 No clear
consensus has resulted from these studies.
Residual chlorides are known to have an impor-
tant influence on the sintering of CP titanium.55,56
It has been found that even hot forging is unable to
eliminate porosity in sintered compacts which con-
tain chlorides at levels as low as 100 ppm.29 After
forging, the pores become lenticular, resulting in
an increase in stress intensity leading to lower ten-
sile ductility and fatigue strength.29 The use of
ultra-low-chloride grade titanium powder appears
to be critical for full densification by solid-state sin-
tering. Table III lists the specifications for five ultra-
low-chloride grade titanium powder products.
Sintering of Ti-6Al-4V and Other Alloys
Both prealloyed and blended elemental methods
can be used to fabricate a titanium alloy. However,
prealloyed powders are typically difficult to press
due to their hardness. For example, in order to
compact <149 µm prealloyed Ti-6Al-4V powder to
84% of the pore-free density, a compaction pres-
sure of 965 MPa is necessary; this is essentially
the yield strength of Ti-6Al-4V.49 In comparison, to
compact <149 µm blended elemental powder to the
same green density requires only 413 MPa.49 In
addition, sintering of prealloyed powders requires
higher sintering temperatures due to the absence
of the positive effects arising from the diffusion
of alloying elements.49 The conventional PM
cold-compaction-and-sintering approach is thus
not the best option for prealloyed powders. Hot

TABLE III. COMMERCIAL ULTRA-LOW-CHLORIDE TITANIUM POWDER PRODUCTS57,58

Product w/o Particle Size
Chemical Components (ppm, maximum)
(minimum) ( m)
Ti Fe Cl Mn Mg Si Ni Cr Al Na K N C H O
Sumitomo
TILOP-150H 99.98 40 10 5 10 5 10 5 5 0.1 0.1 200 200 100 800 -150
Sumitomo
TILOP-45H 99.98 50 10 5 10 5 10 5 5 0.1 0.1 200 200 100 1,300 -150
Toho
TC-150 _ 500 30 100 10 200 _ _ _ _ _ 200 200 300 1,500 -150
Toho
TC-450 _ 500 30 100 10 200 _ _ _ _ _ 200 200 600 3,500 -45
Toho
TC-150 _ 500 30 100 10 200 _ _ _ _ _ 200 200 700 3,500 -20

36 Volume 46, Issue 5, 2010

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COLD COMPACTION AND SINTERING OF TITANIUM AND ITS ALLOYS FOR NEAR-NET-SHAPE OR PREFORM FABRICATION

isostatic pressing (HIPing), hot pressing (HP), or
spark plasma sintering (SPS) are more suited to
consolidating prealloyed powders.
The blended elemental approach produces tita-
nium alloys from mixtures of titanium and a mas-
ter alloy powder (e.g., 60Al-40V), which can be cold
compacted and then sintered. Control of the
process variables can result in sintered densities
ranging from 95% of the pore-free level to 99%.1
The approach is capable of producing acceptable
mechanical properties. Table IV summarizes
selected literature data on cold-compacted-and-
sintered Ti-6Al-4V from blended elemental powder
mixes. In general, the tensile properties of powder
compacts sintered to 97% of the pore-free densi-
ty can meet the wrought specification. The chlo-
rine levels in the titanium powders are also cited.
Acceptable tensile properties were attained from
titanium powder mixes containing chlorine at lev-
els as high as 0.27 w/o.52
While mechanical properties are important, the
main driving force in titanium R&D has been cost
reduction.29,32 To reduce the high cost of CP tita-
nium powder, the use of TiH2 powder has been
investigated for the fabrication of Ti-6Al-
4V.33,50,59–61 Table V lists the various powder
mixes investigated by Ivasishin et al.,33 and the
sintered densities are shown in Figure 6. This
approach resulted in high sintered densities
( 98%), regardless of the form of the aluminum
and vanadium additions (mix 5, elemental; mix 7,
master alloy) while the use of CP titanium powder
led to inferior densification (mixes 2, 4, and 6).
Recent work by Fang50 has shown that the use of
TiH2 powder (<44 µm) and 60Al-40V master alloy
powder permits sintering to 99% of the pore-free
density at 1,200°C for 4 h. Dilatometric experi-
ments revealed that the sintering shrinkage of
TiH2 was rapid in the !-titanium range following
dehydrogenation and most of the densification
occurred at this stage. The shrinkage curves of
TiH2-6Al-4V indicate that sintering above the beta
transus temperature is necessary in order to
achieve full densification and a homogenous
microstructure.50 Similarly, recent sintering trials
of TiH2-10V-2Fe-3Al (Ti-1023) and TiH2-5Al-5V-
5Mo-3Cr (Ti-5553) have resulted in high sintered
densities ( 97%) with excellent tensile proper-

TABLE IV. DENSITIES AND TENSILE PROPERTIES OF COLD-PRESSED-AND-SINTERED BLENDED ELEMENTAL Ti-6Al-4V
Powder Sintered 0.2% YS UTS Elongation Oxygen Source
Density (MPa) (MPa) (%) (w/o)
(% PFD)*
Sponge Fines, <149 m, 0.13 w/o Cl, 99 860 930 12.5–17 0.24 [1]
0.13 w/o O; 4 h at 1,260°C
Sponge Fines, <149 m, 0.13 w/o Cl, 97–98 820 890 10–12.5 0.24 [1]
0.13 w/o O; 4 h at 1,260°C
Sponge Fines, <149 m, 0.13 w/o Cl, 95–96 700 810 5–7.5 0.24 [1]
0.13 w/o O; 4 h at 1,260°C
Crushed Sponge, <149 m, 0.26 w/o 94 737 827 5.0 — [5]
NaCl; 0.1 w/o O
Sodium-Reduced Ti Powder, <149 m, 99 847 983 11.4–13.8 — [59]
0.18 w/o Cl, 0.096 w/o O
Ti Powder, 0.27 w/o Cl; held at 350ºC 98.8 — 960 11 — [77]
for 60 min
CP Ti Powder, <149 m, 0.15 w/o Cl 94 738 827 5.0 0.12 [49]
(estimated)
CP Ti Powder, <149 m, 0.15 w/o Cl 97.5 667 780 10.5 0.07 [49]
(estimated)
Ti Powder, <10 ppm Cl — 800 910 8.3 — [64]
ASTM B-348 Wrought Specification 100 830 980 10 0.2
* Pore-free density

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37
COLD COMPACTION AND SINTERING OF TITANIUM AND ITS ALLOYS FOR NEAR-NET-SHAPE OR PREFORM FABRICATION
TABLE V. POWDER MIX CONDITIONS FOR DATA IN FIGURE 633
Mix Description
1 Ti, <100 m, 1 w/o Impurities,
Including 0.29 w/o O
2 Ti, <100–200 m, 0.7 w/o Impurities,
Including 0.29 w/o O
3 TiH2, <100 m, 1 w/o Impurities,
Including 0.30 w/o O
4 Ti, <100 m, 1 w/o Impurities,
Including 0.29 w/o O
5 TiH2, <100 m, 1 w/o Impurities,
Including 0.30 w/o O
6 Ti, <100 m, 1 w/o Impurities,
Including 0.29 w/o O
7 TiH2, <100 m, 1 w/o Impurities,
Including 0.30 w/o O
Figure 6. Sintered density vs. compaction pressure for Ti-6Al-4V made from
various powder mixes.33 Reprinted with permission from Springer Science +
Business Media
ties.62This is encouraging from a cost-reduction
perspective.
Two hypotheses have been advanced to explain
the sintering of TiH2 powder compacts. The combi-
nation of dehydrogenation and densification in one
process creates new dehydrided titanium surfaces,
which are expected to facilitate diffusion bonding
leading to rapid densification and high sintered
densities.50 The other possible reason is that the
oxide films are reduced by the hydrogen released
38
Method of Addition
Elemental Powders
Al: 98 w/o, -100 m; V: 99 w/o, <100 m
Elemental Powders
Al: 98 w/o, -100 m; V: 99 w/o, <100 m
Elemental Powders
Al: 98 w/o, -100 m; V: 99 w/o, <100 m
Elemental Powders
Al: 95 w/o, -20 m; V: 98 w/o, <40 m
Elemental Powders
Al: 95 w/o, -20 m; V: 98 w/o, <40 m
Master Alloy Powders
Ti-35Al: 98.5 w/o, -100 m; V-25Al: 98.3 w/o, <100 m
Master Alloy Powders
Ti-35Al: 98.5 w/o, -100 m; V-25Al: 98.3 w/o, <100 m
from the hydride,33,50 thereby enabling sintering
to develop in the !-titanium region with a much
reduced interparticle diffusion barrier at contact
points where local reduction has occurred. The
only concern over the use of TiH2 powder appears
to be the massive release of hydrogen above 600°C.
While achieving full densification is a constant
goal in sintering, it should be noted that the grain-
boundary pinning effect of residual porosity can
help to control the sintered microstructure. It has
been shown that fully dense BE Ti-6Al-4V exhibits
both a coarse beta grain size and large alpha plate
dimensions because of the lack of pinning of the
pores during sintering, while less dense Ti-6Al-4V
displayed a low aspect ratio of the alpha struc-
ture.29 In the final stage of sintering, the correla-
tion between porosity (assuming spherical pores),
pore size, and grain size can be understood
through the relation:63
gdp
Vp = ___ (2)
RG
where Vp is the fractional porosity, g is a geomet-
ric constant, dp is the pore size, G is the grain size,
and R is an attachment ratio parameter that meas-
ures the fraction of pores attached to grain bound-
aries. A large value of R favors a small grain size.
For non-fatigue-critical applications, the pinning
effect of the pores may offset their adverse effect.
A detailed study of the pore surfaces of Ti-6Al-4V
at >99% pore-free density after tensile testing and
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International Journal of Powder Metallurgy
COLD COMPACTION AND SINTERING OF TITANIUM AND ITS ALLOYS FOR NEAR-NET-SHAPE OR PREFORM FABRICATION
fracture toughness testing showed extrusive slip
lines on pore surfaces, suggesting that the pores
played a role in accommodating plastic deforma-
tion, thereby increasing ductility.1
Apart from Ti-6Al-4V, other commercial alloys
have been sintered, including Ti-3Al-2.5V, Ti-6Al-
6V-2Sn; Ti-6Al-6V-2Fe; Ti-5Al-5Mo-1.5Cr; Ti-5Al-
2Sn-2Zr-4Cr-4Mo; Ti-6Al-2Sn-4Zr-(2/6)Mo; Ti-
5Al-5V-5Mo-3Cr (Ti-5553), Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al; Ti-5Al-
2.5Fe, Ti-11.5Mo-6Zr-4.5Sn,29,35,49,56,59–64 and Ti-
6Al-7Nb.65 These alloys, including Ti-6Al-4V, are
all sintered in the solid state. Of these, the Ti-6Al-
7Nb alloy has been developed to replace Ti-6Al-4V
as a preferred bio-titanium material due to the tox-
icity of vanadium. The alloy can be fabricated by
metal injection molding (MIM) and sintering to
densities >97% of the pore-free level and mechan-
ical properties comparable with those of wrought
materials.65
To understand the sintering processes in highly
alloyed titanium, the sintering of Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al
has been investigated in detail over the tempera-
ture range of 1,200°C–1,350°C using dilatome-
try.66 The apparent activation energy for sintering
(163±13 kJ/mol) was determined with respect to
two different modes of introduction of aluminum
and vanadium. It was concluded that the densifi-
cation of this alloy is basically dictated by the self-
diffusion of "-titanium.
NOVEL SINTERING PROCESSES
Conventional sintering is versatile but, in most
cases, is relatively slow. Spark plasma sintering
and microwave sintering are two novel sintering
processes that have proven to be effective for the
consolidation of titanium powders. Each exhibits
distinctive features and has the advantage of being
capable of significantly reducing the time of the
sintering cycle.
Spark Plasma Sintering
Spark plasma sintering (SPS) is a pressure-
assisted pulsed-current process. Because of the
combined effects of pressure and the heat generat-
ed by the Joule effect from the high pulsed-current
density (~107 A m-2, 10 V), powder compacts may
be sintered in a short time period, often at a low
temperature.
Consolidation of CP titanium powder by SPS has
demonstrated that the process can lead to rapid
and full densification at a relatively low tempera-
ture.67,68 Figure 7 shows the relative density as
Volume 46, Issue 5, 2010
International Journal of Powder Metallurgy
a function of the sintering temperature for CP
titanium grade 1 (45 µm) and CP titanium grade
3 (45 µm) powder utilizing SPS in low vacuum
(2 Pa).68 The powder was placed in a graphite die
and pressed uniaxially at 60 MPa while a pulsed
electric current was applied through a graphite
punch. Heating rates up to 200°C/min were used
and isothermal holding at each temperature was
limited to 5 min. The compacts were disks 30 mm
dia. × 5 mm thick. Full densification was attained
at 950°C for 5 min, and 99% of the pore-free den-
sity was achieved after 5 min isothermal holding at
800°C. Because of rapid consolidation, all the sin-
tered samples showed similar carbon, nitrogen,
and oxygen contents to those of the starting pow-
der. Figure 8 is a representative optical micro-
graph of fully dense, fine-grain CP titanium grade
1 consolidated at 950°C for 5 min. The mechanical
properties of this material satisfy ASTM standards
for CP titanium grade 1 and grade 3.68
Although not as versatile as conventional sinter-
ing, SPS is capable of rapidly consolidating a vari-
ety of symmetrical shapes such as gears, brake
disks, sprockets, clutch pressure plates, and
cams, in addition to billet preforms for subsequent
hot working.69,70 Also, SPS is compatible with both
blended elemental powder mixes and prealloyed
powders. It is a novel and viable rapid-consolida-
tion technique for titanium and its alloys in niche
market applications.
Microwave Sintering
The effectiveness of microwave (MW) sintering
Figure 7. Consolidation of CP titanium grade 1 and CP titanium grade 3 powders
by SPS as a function of sintering temperature.68 Reprinted with permission from
Maney Publishing
39
COLD COMPACTION AND SINTERING OF TITANIUM AND ITS ALLOYS FOR NEAR-NET-SHAPE OR PREFORM FABRICATION
Figure 8. Optical micrograph of CP titanium grade 1 powder (45 m) consolidated
by SPS at 900°C for 5 min.68 Reprinted with permission from Maney Publishing
has been demonstrated on many ceramic systems
and a number of metallic and metal–ceramic sys-
tems but has been unproven for titanium PM until
recently. One reason is that titanium is a para-
magnetic metal coupling weakly with the magnet-
ic field of the microwaves, which is principally
responsible for the MW heating effect in magnetic
oxides.71 The effectiveness of MW for the sintering
of metal powders was first demonstrated on ferro-
magnetic metal powders such as cobalt and iron
and their alloys.72 Recent work has confirmed that
MW radiation is much more effective in heating
ferromagnetic iron powders than in heating non-
ferromagnetic powders such as copper, gold, tin,
and titanium.73 Limited evidence suggests that
MW sintering is capable of producing titanium
parts having a relatively dense core.74
A recent detailed comparative study of the MW
sintering and conventional sintering of CP titani-
um powder compacts in high vacuum confirmed
that MW radiation is effective for the consolidation
of titanium with the assistance of MW suscep-
tors.75 Green compacts were made from three dif-
ferent types of CP titanium powder under com-
paction pressures in the range 200 to 800 MPa
and sintered at 1,200°C in a multimode cavity
3kW MW furnace operating at 2.45 GHz in high
vacuum (HAMilab-HV3, Synotherm, China); the
response is compared with that of conventional
vacuum sintering, Figure 9. The highest density
attained with MW sintering is 96.30% of the pore-
free density with AEE-titanium powder. Other
than the samples compacted at 200 MPa, MW sin-
40
tering produced densification levels comparable
with those of conventional vacuum sintering.
However, MW radiation delivered a much faster
heating rate (34°C/min) than did conventional
vacuum heating, leading to a substantial reduc-
tion in the sintering cycle. This is attributed to
three combined effects:76 (i) heat radiation from
the MW susceptors at low temperatures, (ii)
enhanced MW absorption due to transformation of
the TiO2 film on the titanium powder particle sur-
faces to oxygen-deficient titanium oxides, which
are MW absorbers, and (iii) volumetric heating of
the titanium powder particles by eddy currents.
More detailed studies are under way to assess the
effectiveness of MW sintering of titanium com-
pared with conventional vacuum sintering.
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES AND
APPLICATIONS
The mechanical properties of cold-compacted-
and-sintered titanium and its alloys are deter-
mined by the sintered density, microstructural
uniformity, grain size, and impurity levels. Table
VI lists the tensile properties of cold compacted
and sintered CP Ti, Ti-3Al-2.5V, and Ti-6Al-6V-2Fe
using BE powders and Ti-5Al-5V-5Mo-3Cr and Ti-
10V-2Fe-3Al using TiH2 powder and master alloy
powders. The property data listed in Tables IV and
VI show the capabilities of the cold-compaction-
and-sinter approach. In addition to cold-compact-
ed-and-sintered Ti-6Al-4V, as-sintered Ti-5Al-5V-
5Mo-3Cr and Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al can also attain high
strength (YS 940 MPa; UTS 1,030 MPa) and duc-
tility (elongation 8%–12%).62 These properties are
Figure 9. Densification of titanium powder compacts by microwave and conven-
tional sintering.75 AEE-Ti: <20 m; SUMI-Ti: 45–63 m; CERAC-Ti: 100–150 m
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COLD COMPACTION AND SINTERING OF TITANIUM AND ITS ALLOYS FOR NEAR-NET-SHAPE OR PREFORM FABRICATION

TABLE VI. REPRESENTATIVE PROPERTIES OF PRESS-AND-SINTER CP Ti AND Ti ALLOYS*

Description Density Oxygen Yield Strength UTS Elongation Reduction
(% PFD) (ppm) (MPa) (MPa) (%, 25.4 mm) in Area (%)
CP Ti 95 415 224 305 24.5 23
CP Ti 98 700 283 383 37.1 30
CP Ti 94 1,200 338 427 15.0 23
CP Ti 98 3,000 483 611 11.0 10
Ti-3Al-2.5V - 1,200 564 650 11.5 14
Ti-6Al-6V-2Fe - 1,200 845 963 6.0 3.8
Ti-5Al-5V-5Mo-3Cr 97.3 - 966 1,067 10.1 16.9
Ti-5Al-5V-5Mo-3Cr 97.8 - 933 1,031 11.3 14.9
Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al 96 - 944 1,033 8.0 13.5
Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al 97.2 - 939 1,033 12.0 19.5
*Elemental powder additions49,56,62

acceptable for a wide range of non-fatigue-critical
applications. The as-sintered Ti alloys are known
to be inferior to their wrought counterparts under
cyclic loading. The fatigue strength of as-sintered
Ti-6Al-4V at 99.8% of the pore-free density is at
the lower bound for wrought Ti-6Al-4V.29 Other
mechanical properties such as fracture toughness
and fatigue-crack-growth rate are, however, at a
similar level to those of wrought titanium.29
Titanium has four major fields of application:
military aerospace, commercial aerospace, indus-
trial, and consumer/other.10,78,79 Unfortunately,
the application of near-net-shape titanium parts
produced by cold compaction and sintering is vir-
tually zero.32 The only PM tonnage application
remains Ti-TiB engine valves, with production at
~10,000 pieces/month.22 Due to their inferior
fatigue properties, as-sintered titanium PM parts
must focus on less demanding non-aerospace,
non-fatigue-critical applications. It is encouraging
to note that the worldwide consumption of titanium
mill products in the non-aerospace field has now
exceeded that for aerospace consumption.79 This
should provide increased opportunities and incen-
tives for the future of the titanium PM industry.
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
Cost reduction has been the primary driving
force for titanium R&D. For titanium PM, while
significant efforts are underway to develop and
produce cost-affordable low-impurity-level titani-
um powder products, there are other issues that
will be important to the future of the titanium PM
industry:
• Sintering in Argon: High-vacuum sintering is
preferred for densification but it is a batch
process. Mass-production sintering will need
to be carried out in a continuous sintering fur-
nace. Can titanium PM parts be sintered to
high densities (>98% pore-free density) in a
short period ($60 min) in argon? At present,
little is known as past efforts have focused on
vacuum sintering. As a starting point, a
detailed assessment of argon sintering vs.
high-vacuum sintering is necessary.
• Titanium PM Alloys: Current commercial tita-
nium alloys are sinterable. However, the
isothermal-sintering process typically requires
~240 min to ensure good densification, which
is less competitive for continuous production
sintering. Work is needed to limit the
isothermal-sintering time to $60 min, either
through the development of effective sintering
aids for existing commercial alloys, or through
the design and development of rapid-sinter-
able titanium PM alloys.
• High-Chloride-Content Titanium Powder: CP
titanium grade 2 powder products (0.2 w/o O,
0.03 w/o N, 0.02 w/o C; 0.06 w/o Fe, 0.01
w/o Mg, 0.05 w/o Cl) made from Kroll sponge
are presently sold at a market price ~$25/kg.
High-chloride-content titanium powder prod-
ucts can be produced at a more affordable
price as ~80% of the vacuum distillation
efforts are to remove the 1–2 w/o MgCl2 deep
in the sponge.28 There is a need to develop
suitable sintering processes for the fabrication
of quality titanium PM parts from high-chlo-
ride titanium powders. Progress has been
encouraging and cold-compacted-and-sin-
tered Ti-6Al-4V prepared from titanium pow-
der mixes containing >0.36 w/o MgCl2 (0.27

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International Journal of Powder Metallurgy
41
COLD COMPACTION AND SINTERING OF TITANIUM AND ITS ALLOYS FOR NEAR-NET-SHAPE OR PREFORM FABRICATION
w/o Cl) attained an ultimate tensile strength
of 960 MPa and a tensile elongation of 11%.77
• Novel Sintering Processes: Both SPS and MW
have proven to be effective for the consolida-
tion of titanium powder compacts. Both have
the potential for niche market applications
and should be exploited in near-net-shape or
preform fabrication.
• Titanium Metal Matrix Composites (MMCs): PM
has advantages over other manufacturing
approaches in composite design and fabrica-
tion. PM-based Ti-TiB engine valves are an
encouraging example.21 A significant improve-
ment in stiffness through composite design
and fabrication by a PM approach is likely to
open new markets for titanium PM. In addi-
tion, titanium MMCs have the potential to
offer unique functional properties. Titanium
PM composites represent an important direc-
tion in the future.80
• Titanium PM Applications: Owing to their infe-
rior fatigue properties, titanium PM parts
made by conventional cold compaction and
sintering should focus on non-aerospace,
non-fatigue-critical applications. To enhance
titanium PM applications, it is important that
property data for as-sintered titanium alloys
be reliable and complete so that design engi-
neers will be willing to specify titanium PM
parts for potential new applications. Both
innovation and coordinated efforts are needed
for a viable and sustainable titanium PM
industry in the near future.
In summary, the attractiveness of titanium PM
has been recognized for several decades, but its
potential is yet to be realized as an industrial man-
ufacturing approach. The major challenge to be
overcome is economic. New titanium powder prod-
ucts from a few emerging meltless production
processes may provide an improved basis for fur-
ther development. Nevertheless, opportunities
exist even with currently available titanium pow-
der products made from Kroll sponge. The poten-
tial of cold compaction and sintering for near-net-
shape or preform fabrication will be realized for
selective applications.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work is supported by the Australian
Research Council (ARC) and the ARC Center of
Excellence for Design in Light Metals. The docu-
ment delivery team at the Dorothy Hill Physical
42
Sciences and Engineering Library of The University
of Queensland (UQ) is gratefully acknowledged for
the availability of a significant number of the refer-
ences. Ray Low, UQ, is thanked for drawing the
authors attention to Ref. 77.
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