Fast densification and deformation of titanium powder

A coarse titanium powder containing 0·2 wt-% oxygen with an average particle size of 45 μm was rapidly densified using the spark plasma sintering (SPS) technique. The fully consolidated specimens were also deformed in compression in the SPS unit and in a conventional hot pressing (HP) furnace. The densification and deformation behaviours were investigated by microstructural observation and examining the shrinkage and shrinkage rate recorded in real time. The efforts were focused on clarifying to what extent the possible spark discharging and intensive Joule heating at the particle contact points contribute to the densification, and what effect if any the pulsed electrical heating has on the densification. The results showed that what contributed to the densification were neither spark discharging nor anisotropic heating, but the particle deformation. Deformation occurs throughout the entire particle both in SPS and HP conditions, with a higher strain rate under SPS condition especially in the α phase region.