Mechanical alloying and spark plasma sintering of the intermetallic compound Ti50Al50

This study investigates the microstructures and mechanical properties of Ti50Al50 alloys prepared via mechanical alloying (NIA) starting from elemental powders. The process of the spark plasma sintering (SPS) has also been studied. It is found that the nanocrystallization process of the Ti-Al alloy proceeds and the sintering temperature can control the microstructure of alloy. The sintering of the compacts is carried out at the temperatures of 1100-1200 degrees C with a compaction pressure of 30 MPa and a heating rate of 30 degrees C min(-1). Specimens with high densities and approaching the equilibrium state can be obtained in short time by spark sintering than conventional sintering. Such shorter high temperature is important to prevent grain growth. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.