Development of Porous Ti64 by Partial Densification in Spark Plasma Sintering for Laminar Flow Control

The purpose of this study is to develop a porous material in Ti64 by partial densification with spark plasma sintering to be used as a porous panel for laminar flow control by suction. An important characteristic of porous panels for this application is their permeability, which must be as high as possible. The permeability can be related to the material's porous network. This is why samples are made by varying their manufacturing parameters (temperature, pressure, powder particle size, and powder quantity). Then, their permeability is measured experimentally, and their porous network is described with the measurement of porosity, local diameter distribution, and tortuosity thanks to X‐ray tomography. The tortuosity measurements highlight the anisotropic effect of pressure on the porous network. The morphological parameters are used in a Kozeny–Carman model, which should predict porous materials’ permeability, and be confronted with the experimental measurements. Finally, this characterization process leads to the selection of the best manufacturing parameters for the application.