Production of titanium by the Armstrong Process

TLDR: The Armstrong Process as discussed by the authors is a powder production process capable of producing commercially pure titanium and Ti-6Al-4V by the reduction of titanium tetrachloride and other metal halides by sodium.

Abstract: The Armstrong Process® is a novel powder production process capable of producing commercially pure titanium and Ti-6Al-4V by the reduction of titanium tetrachloride and other metal halides by sodium The process produces powder particles with a unique, low bulk density, “coral-like” morphology Postprocessing activities such as dry and wet ball milling provide a means of increasing the tap density and narrowing the particle size distribution to meet the requirements for typical powder metallurgy conversion processes The Armstrong Process powder’s unique morphology produces excellent compressibility and compaction behavior, capable of producing compacts with significantly higher green strength than other irregular powders Powders can be consolidated by traditional powder metallurgy techniques such as uniaxial compaction and cold isostatic pressing Optimal parameters for consolidation via such techniques have been established The high degree of interlocking between adjacent powder particles offers distinct advantages in roll compaction, allowing for the direct rolling of powder into titanium sheet Examinations of the sintering behavior of compacts produced from The Armstrong Process powders show that the higher surface area-to-volume ratio of the material results in the onset of sintering and shrinkage at a much lower temperature than other powders As result, less aggressive sintering conditions are required for near-full densification The Armstrong Process powders can be spheroidized by plasma induction as a means of increasing overall tap density and powder flow rate to make it ideal for applications such as metal injection molding and additive manufacturing