Microstructure and mechanical properties of titanium components fabricated by a new powder injection molding technique

A powder injection molding (PIM) binder system has been developed for reactive metals such as titanium that employs an aromatic compound as the primary component to facilitate easy binder removal and mitigate problems with carbon contamination. In the study presented here, we examined the densification behavior, microstructure, and mechanical properties of titanium specimens formed by this process using naphthalene as the principle binder constituent. In general, it was found that tensile strengths could be achieved comparable to wrought titanium in the PIM-formed specimens, but that maximum elongation was less than expected. Chemical and microstructural analyses indicate that this process does not add oxygen to the material,suggesting that the use of higher purity powder and further process optimization should lead to significant improvements in ductility.