Development of Low-Cost Powder Metallurgy Titanium Alloys by Addition of Commercial 430 Stainless Steel Powder

Abstract

Titanium is characterised by an outstanding combination of properties (i.e. low density, high strength, corrosion resistance and biocompatibility) but its industrial applications are restricted due to its high extraction and fabrication costs. Near-net-shape or net-shape powder metallurgy techniques offer the possibility to reduce production costs due to intrinsic advantages (i.e. high yield of material, limited or no machining) avoiding the problems of working with molten titanium (reaction with the casting tools). Another reduction of the final costs can be achieved by using cheap alloying elements such as iron. In this study, the effect of the addition of commercial 430 stainless steel powder to elemental titanium to be processed by cold uniaxial pressing and sintering is studied. The properties of the sintered materials, relative density, mechanical properties and microstructural features of this low-cost titanium alloy are analysed and compared to those of the titanium workhorse alloy (Ti-6Al-4V).