PRODUCING TITANIUM ALUMINIDE FOIL FROM PLASMA-SPRAYED PREFORMS

High-strength titanium alloy and titanium aluminide foils are required for fabricating composite structures and honeycombs for advanced airc raft engines and airframes. Titanium aluminide alloys possess limited workability, which results in significant yield loss when these materi als are produced by the conventional ingot metallurgy route. This arti cle describes the use of induction plasma spray technology to fabricat e foil preforms of a titanium alloy and a titanium aluminide. These pl asma-sprayed preforms were converted into 100% dense wrought titanium aluminide foil by a roll-consolidation process. The microstructure and mechanical properties of titanium aluminide foil produced from plasma -sprayed preforms were virtually identical to those of conventional in got metallurgy foil. The plasma-spray plus roll-consolidation route ma y lead to the production of titanium aluminide foil as continuous coil , which would improve process efficiency and yield high-quality titani um aluminide foil at low cost.