Characterization of microstructures and micromechanical properties of Ti6Al4V powders

Ti6Al4V (TC4) powders of dense and homogenous microstructures with hcp alpha-Ti phase prepared by electrode induction gas atomization (EIGA) and radio frequency (RF) plasma spheroidization technologies were compared based on compositional, microstructural and micromechanical characterization. TC4 powders prepared by EIGA exhibit larger particle sizes and better sphericity than those by RF due to the numerous tiny satellite particles on the surface of powders by RF. XPS spectra show that EIGA produces less metal carbonate and more metal oxide on the surface of TC4 powders. Nanoindentation tests show that elastic modulus EIT and indentation hardness HIT of TC4 powders prepared by RF are larger than those by EIGA due to the larger contents of N, O, and H elements and the larger average domain size Dvof powders prepared by RF. Deep Symbolic Optimization (DSO) algorithm was employed to quantify the dependences of EIT and HIT on compositional and microstructural parameters.