Compressibility of a Ti-based alloy with varying amounts of surfactant prepared by high-energy ball milling

•We investigate the combined effects of surfactant addition and ball milling on the compressibility of a Ti-based alloy.•The relative density is higher for powders ball milled with larger amounts of surfactant.•The lubricating effect of surfactants is more pronounced at shorter milling time.

The combined effects of varying amounts of surfactant (ethylene bis-stearamide; EBS) and milling time on the compressibility of ball-milled Ti–10Nb–3Mo (wt.%) alloy were investigated. Ball milling process was performed on the elemental powders with different amounts of EBS (0–3 wt.%) for 5 and 10 h, and the ball-milled powders were consolidated by a uniaxial cold pressing in the range of 500–1100 MPa. Results indicated that the addition of surfactant in ball milling process lead to significant changes in particle packing density. The relative density was higher for powders ball milled with larger amounts of EBS and for the shorter milling time. The compressibility of powders was examined by the compaction equation developed by Panelli and Ambrosio Filho. The densification parameter (A) increased with the increasing amount of EBS, and decreased with increasing milling time.

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