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Consolidation of titanium and titanium alloy powders using thermomechanical powder metallurgy (TPM) processes (powder compact forging, extrusion and rolling) is one way that can lead to cost-effective production of high value-added consolidated titanium and titanium alloy products such as near-net shaped components, tubes and plates. This paper provides an overview of the quality, microstructure (to limited depth), porosity level and mechanical properties of disks produced using open die forging of powder compacts of CP titanium and Ti-6Al-4V alloy powders. The general materials science principles underlying the relationships between processing conditions, microstructure and the mechanical properties of the disks made by using the powder compact forging are discussed.

Gamma TiAl based alloys are important materials with potential applications in aerospace and automotive applications due to their high specific strength and creep resistance. The major barrier for their applications is their limited ductility at room temperature and limited hot workability. One way of overcoming this barrier is to reduce the grain sizes to ultrafine grained (<500μm) or nanostructured (<100nm) level. In our present study, we attempt to produce bulk ultrafine grained Ti- 47Al-2Cr (at%) alloy using a combination of high energy mechanical milling of elemental powders to produce a very fine structured Ti/Al/Cr composite powder and consolidation of the powder using hot isostatic pressing (HIPping). It was confirmed that high energy ball milling using a planetary ball mill led to the formation of extremely fine Ti and Al layered composite structure. The thermal behaviour of the powder was studied using differential thermal analysis, and it was shown that the reactions between the Ti and Al phases in the fine structured composite powder occur at fairly low temperatures, below the melting point of the Al phase (660oC). The macrostructure and phase structure of the HIPped samples were also examined using optical and scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffractometry (XRD). This paper is to report and discuss the results of this investigation.

A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t Research Highlights Powder metallurgy process has been used to produce UFG Ti-47Al-2Cr (at%) alloy. At room temperature, the UFG alloy was found to be ductile in compression (~ 4%). At elevated temperatures the alloy showed high tensile and compressive ductility. The yield strength at 900 o C is 55MPa in tension and ~ 33MPa in compression. *Research HighlightsPage 2 of 17 A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t AbstractA bulk ultrafine grained (UFG) Ti-47Al-2Cr (at%) alloy has been produced using a powder metallurgy process that combines high energy mechanical milling (HEMM) of a mixture of Ti, Al and Cr powders to produce a Ti/Al/Cr composite powder and hot isostatic pressing (HIP) of the composite powder compact. The purpose of the present study is to determine the mechanical behaviour of the alloy in tension and compression at room temperature (RT) and elevated temperatures, and also to compare the compression behaviour of the material with its tensile behaviour. It has been found that due to the residual pores, lack of full level interparticle bonding and high oxygen content (0.87wt%) in the consolidated samples, the UFG TiAl based alloy has a very low room temperature tensile fracture strength of ~100MPa and shows no tensile ductility. However these microstructural defects and high oxygen content have much less significant effect on the room temperature compressive mechanical properties, and the alloy shows a high compressive yield strength of ~ 1410 MPa, and some ductility (plastic strain to fracture ~ 4%). At elevated temperatures of 800 o C and above, the alloy shows high tensile and compressive ductility as demonstrated by 75% tensile elongation to fracture and no cracking in upset forging with a height reduction of 50% at 900 o C. The yield strength of the alloy at 900 o C is 55MPa in tension and ~ 33MPa in compression, both of which are lower than those of coarse grained TiAl based alloys with similar compositions at 900 o C. This is due to a higher creep rate of the UFG alloy caused by the small grains. The good formability of the UFG TiAl based alloy as reflected by the lower critical temperature above which the alloy becomes highly formable indicates that the material can be used as a suitable precursor for secondary thermomechanical processing and super-plastic forming.

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