Gas-phase supported rapid manufacturing of Ti-6Al-4V alloy spherical particles for 3D printing

In this study, a combustion process for a TiO2 + 0.12Al + (2.5 + 6k)Mg + 0.021V2O5 + kMgCl2·6H2O mixture was studied to fabricate Ti-6Al-4V alloy spherical particles. From the temperature-time profiles, the average value of the synthesis temperature was estimated to be 1650 ± 20 °C. Based on FESEM observations, spherical shape particles were obtained when 0.05-0.1 mol MgCl2·6H2O was added to the initial reaction mixture. Therefore, spherical alloy particles were achieved by consecutive processes of cooling and acid purification of the burned down sample. According to laser particle size analysis, the average diameter of the spheres was between 5 and 25 μm. A selective laser melting process was applied to build dense Ti-6Al-4V alloy samples. The tensile properties and the microhardness were evaluated and compared to those characteristics of a reference sample prepared from commercial Ti-6Al-4V alloy spherical powder.