Static and dynamic fracture characteristics of the MIM Ti-6Al-4V alloy compacts using fine powder

Titanium alloys show not only the excellent mechanical properties but also good biocompatibility. However, they show normally poor machinability, which become the disadvantage of high processing cost. Metal injection molding (MIM) process is one of the techniques to improve that drawback. Because MIM process can produce the three dimensional complex shaped parts at low cost. Ti-6Al-4V is a typical titanium alloy and the MIM compacts show high static strength as same as wrought materials. However, their fatigue strength is a little low level as compared to wrought materials. To improve the mechanical properties of Ti-6Al-4V alloy compacts, it is important to refine the grain size and increase the relative density. In this study, the effects of the particle size of the powders on the mechanical properties were investigated. The use of a fine powder improved the mechanical properties because of their high density. Moreover, the crystal grain growth was restrained as compared to the case of the same relative density using larger powder.