Injection molding of micro-porous titanium alloy with space holder technique

The powder space holder(PSH) and powder injection molding(PIM) methods have an industrial competitive advantage because they are capable of the net-shape production of micro-sized porous parts.In this study,micro-porous Ti6Al4V alloy(Ti64) parts were produced by the PSH-PIM process.Ti64 alloy powder and spherical polymethylmethacrylate(PMMA) particles were used as a space holder material.After molding,binder debinding was performed by thermal method under inert gas.Debinded samples were sintered at 1250oC for 60 min in a vacuum(10-4 Pa) .Metallographic studies were conducted to determine densification and the corresponding microstructural changes.The surface of sintered samples was examined by SEM.The compressive stress and elastic modulus of the micro-porous Ti64 samples were de-termined.The effects of fraction of PMMA on the properties of sintered micro-porous Ti64 alloy samples were investigated.It was shown that the fraction of PMMA could be controlled to affect the properties of the Ti alloy.