Effect of Spark Plasma Sintering Parameters and Thermomechanical Processing on the Microstructural Evolution of the Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al Titanium Alloy

This paper presents the effect of spark plasma sintering (SPS) parameters and hot plastic deformation on the microstructural evolution of the Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al titanium alloy. The study examines the effects of sintering temperature (1200 °C and 1300 °C) and sintering time (10 min and 15 min), as well as plastic deformation parameters, on microstructural transformations. It was demonstrated that the short duration of high-temperature exposure during SPS sintering favours the preservation of local differences in chemical composition, leading to the formation of regions with varying vanadium and other alloying element contents, as well as varying microhardness. Hot deformation tests at 680 °C revealed a stress peak, followed by softening, indicating that structural reorganisation occurs during deformation. It was also found that the intensity of plastic deformation and the sintering temperature influence the homogenization of the material’s chemical composition throughout its volume, the grain refinement of the β phase, and the change in the morphology of the α phase. The use of a two-stage hot plastic deformation process enabled the formation of a fine-grained, banded α + β two-phase structure in a sintered part produced at 1300 °C. The results indicate that the appropriate selection of sintering parameters and subsequent stages of plastic deformation are key tools for shaping the microstructure of the Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al alloy, thereby enabling control over its chemical and structural heterogeneity.