Characterization of Flowability and Compaction Behavior of Biomedical Ti-Cu Intermetallic Alloy Synthesized by Mechanical Alloying Method

This study investigated the flowability and compactability of the milled Ti-Cu alloys as a new version of  biomedical alloys used for fabrication via Additive Manufacturing. In this study, Ti- 50 at. % Cu powder was first milled for different durations, and the morphology, microhardness, size, flowability, and compactability of the powder were assessed. The results indicated that while flowability increased with prolonged milling time, compressibility decreased owing to a decrease in the plastic deformation capacity. The highest flowability level was obtained when hard TiCu phase was synthesized after 30 hours of milling. Different linear and nonlinear compaction equations were used to investigate the densification response of TiCu powder in a rigid mold during uniaxial compression. Cooper-Eaton nonlinear equation was found to be the best fit compared to the linear equation. The contribution of particle rearrangement to the densification behavior was high, and it increased upon increasing the applied pressure. At pressures below 1200 MPa, the contribution of plastic deformation to the powder densification was negligible.