Properties of Ti-Mg Materials Synthesized via Powder Metallurgy Process

Pure titanium (Ti) powder together with magnesium (Mg) powder was mechanically alloyed (MAed) by using a vibrational ball mill, and the MAed powders were consolidated into bulk materials by spark plasma sintering (SPS). Properties of the MAed powder and bulk materials were evaluated by hardness measurements, X-ray diffraction, optical and scanning microscopy. No solid solution of Mg in Ti was observed during MA process. In addition, no solid-state reaction in the MAed powders and bulk materials was also observed between Mg and Ti under the presence of stearic acid added as the process control agent. As increasing of Mg contents in the Ti matrix, Vickers microhardness of the MAed powders decreased. This phenomenon was also shown to the bulk materials. Applying the MA-SPS process to Ti-Mg system, the level of hardness of the MAed powder and bulk materials can be controlled by the amount of Mg content, MA processing time and sintering temperatures.