Forming of titanium and titanium alloy miniature-cylinders by electrical-field activated powder sintering and forming

Abstract

As demands on miniature products increase significantly, a rapid process and production system for high-throughput, highly flexible and cost-efficient volume production of miniaturised components made from a wide range of materials is neededA novel and electrical-field-activated sintering and forming process shows the potential to produce solid parts from powder material without any binderUsing titanium (Ti) and titanium alloy (90Ti10Sn) powder material, several processing parameters have been investigated, such as pressure, heating rate, heating temperature and holding time, which helped to contribute to the optimum resultIn this study, using graphite dies, graphite punches and tungsten carbide punches, solid samples were produced, having a cylinder shape of Ø4.00 mm × 4.00 mmSeveral properties of the solid Ti and 90Ti10Sn samples, such as density, hardness and the microstructures, were examined, and these showed that good results have been obtained.