Titanium alloys have high specific strength, excellent corrosion and wear resistance, as well as high heatresistant strength compared to conventional steel materials. As intermetallic compounds based on Ti, TiAl alloys are becoming increasingly popular in the aerospace field because these alloys have low density and high creep properties. In spite of those advantages, the low ductility at room temperature and difficult machining performance of TiAl and Ti3Al materials has limited their potential applications. Titanium powder can be used in such cases for weight and cost reduction. Herein, pre-forms of Ti-Al-xMn powder alloys are fabricated by compression forming. In this process, Ti powder is added to Al and Mn powders and compressed, and the resulting mixture is subjected to various sintering temperature and holding times. The density of the powder-sintered specimens is measured and evaluated by correlation with phase formation, Mn addition, Kirkendall void, etc. Strong Al-Mn reactions can restrain Kirkendall void formation in Ti-Al-xMn powder alloys and result in increased density of the powder alloys. The effect of Al-Mn reactions and microstructural changes as well as Mn addition on the high-temperature compression properties are also analyzed for the Ti-Al-xMn powder alloys.
Microstructural analysis of a (α+β) Ti alloy was investigated to consider phase transformation in each step of thethermo-mechanical process using by SEM and TEM EDS. The TAF (Ti-6Al-4Fe) alloy was thermo-mechanically treated withsolid solution at 880oC, rolling at 880oC and annealing at 800oC. In the STQ state, the TAF microstructure was composedof a normal hcp α and metastable β phase. In a rolled state, it was composed of fine B2 precipitates in an α phase, whichhad high Fe segregation and a coherent relationship with the β matrix. Finally, in the annealing state, the fine B2 precipitateshad disappeared in the α phase and had gone to the boundary of the α and β phase. On the other hand, in a lower rollingtemperature of 704oC, the B2 precipitates were more coarse in both the α and the boundary of α and β phase. We concludedthat microstructural change affects the mechanical properties of formability including rolling defects and cracks.
Metastable phase characteristics of beta Ti alloys were investigated to consider the relationship of the microstructureand diffraction pattern in TEM. TEM analysis showed that the microstructure was mottled as a modulated structure, and thediffraction pattern was composed of spot streaks between the main spots of a stable beta phase with a specific latticerelationship. The modulated structure may be induced by short distance slip or atom movement during a very short intervalof solution treated and quenched (STQ) materials. The athermal ω phase, which could be precipitated at low temperature aging,is also analysed by the metastable phase. The metastable phases including athermal ω phase had a common characteristic ofhardened and brittle behavior because the dislocation slip was restricted by a super lattice effect due to short distance atommovement at the metastable state.
This study was performed to fabricate the porous titanium foam by space holder method using NaCl powder, and to evaluate the effect of NaCl volume fractions (33.3~66.6 vol.%) on the porosities, compressive strength, Young's modulus and permeability. For controlling pore size, CP titanium and NaCl particles were sieved to different size range of 70~150 and 300~425 respectively. NaCl of green Ti compact was removed in water followed by sintered at for 2 hours. Total porosities of titanium foam were in the range of 38-70%. Pore shape was a regular hexahedron similar that of NaCl shape. Porous Ti body showed that Young's modulus and compressive strength were in the range of 0.6-6 GPa and 8-127 MPa respectively. It showed that pore size and mechanical properties of Ti foams was controllable by NaCl size and volume fractions.
In this paper, high temperature oxidation behavior of newly developed alloys, Ti-6Al-4Fe and Ti-6Al-1Fe, is examined. To understand the effect of Fe on the air oxidation behavior of the Ti-Al-Fe alloy system, thermal oxidation tests are carried out at 700˚C and 800˚C for 96 hours. Ti-6Al-4V alloy is also prepared and tested under the same conditions for comparison with the developed alloys. The oxidation resistance of the Ti-Al-Fe alloy system is superior to that of Ti-6Al-4V alloy. Ti-6Al-4V shows the worst oxidation resistance for all test conditions. This is not a result of the addition of Fe, but rather it is due to the elimination of V, which has deleterious effects on high temperature oxidation. The oxidation of the Ti-Al-Fe alloy system follows the parabolic rate law. At 700˚C, Fe addition does not have a noticeable influence on the amount of weight gain of all specimens. However, at 800˚C, Ti-6Al-4Fe alloy shows remarkable degradation compared to Ti-6Al-1Fe and Ti-6Al. It is discovered that the formation of Al2O3, a diffusion resistance layer, is remarkably hindered by a relative decrease of the α volume fraction. This is because Fe addition increases the volume fraction of β phase within the Ti-6Al-xFe alloy system. Activities of Al, Ti, and Fe with respect to the formation of oxide layers are calculated and analyzed to explore the oxidation mechanism.
Ti scaffolds with a three-dimensional porous structure were successfully fabricated using powder metallurgy and modified rapid prototyping (RP) process. The fabricated Ti scaffolds showed a highly porous structure with interconnected pores. The porosity and pore size of the scaffolds were in the range of 66~72% and 300~400 μm, respectively. The sintering of the fabricated scaffolds under the vacuum caused the Ti particles to bond to each other. The strength of the scaffolds depended on the layering patterns. The compressive strength of the scaffolds ranged from 15 MPa to 52 MPa according to the scaffolds' architecture. The alkali treatment of the fabricated scaffolds in an aqueous NaOH solution was shown to be effective in improving the bioactivity. The surface of the alkali-treated Ti scaffolds had a nano-sized fibre-like structure. The modified surface showed a good apatite forming ability. The apatite was formed on the surface of the alkali treated Ti scaffolds within 1 day. The thickness of the apatite increased when the soaking time in a simulated body fluid (SBF) solution increased. It is expected that the surface modification of Ti scaffolds by alkali treatment could be effective in forming apatites in vivo and can subsequently enhance bone formation.
Porous poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL) scaffolds were fabricated by salt leaching method. The PCL scaffolds were treated with aqueous NaOH for 0h, 2h, 4h, 8h, and 12h at 40˚C. The NaOH-treated PCL scaffolds were dipped in CaCl2 and K2HPO4·3H2O solution alternately three times to induce apatite nuclei onto the surface of the scaffolds. The NaOH-treated PCL scaffolds were immersed into SBF solution for 1day to grow the apatite. The apatite formation were investigated as a fuction of NaOH treatment time. The hydrophilicty and surface area of the PCL scaffolds were increased with NaOH-treatment time. The NaOH-treated PCL scaffolds were successfully formed a dense and uniform bone-like apatite layer after immersion for 1 day in SBF solution.