Production of Ti–6Al–4V billet through compaction of blended elemental powders by equal-channel angular pressing

In this work, compaction by warm equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) with back pressure was used to produce Ti–6Al–4V billets from both commercially pure (CP) titanium and titanium hydride (TiH2) powders, which were mixed with pulverised binary Al–V master alloys of two distinct Al/V ratios and with elemental aluminium powder to arrive at the nominal alloy composition. It was demonstrated that the right combination of temperature, high hydrostatic pressure and plastic shear deformation permits consolidation of the powder mixture to maximum green densities of 99.26%. Moreover, after direct compaction of blended elemental powders by equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) with back pressure, the sintering temperature required for chemical and microstructural homogenisation of the compacts could be reduced by 150–250°C. This was possible due to high green density, increased contact area between powder particles and the formation of fast diffusion paths associated with grain refinement by severe plastic deformation. The sintered Ti–6Al–4V billets exhibited a maximum density of 99.88%, Vickers hardness of 409–445 HV1 and ultimate tensile strength in the range of 1000–1080MPa. In contrast to findings of other authors, the use of TiH2 powders in conjunction with ECAP processing did not bring any benefits with regard to the production of the Ti–6Al–4V alloy.