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By H. Saridikmen, C. S. Kucukkaragoz

In the present study, the measurement of sulphur distribution ratios between the slag and metal phases encountered in the ferromanganese smelting has been carried out at 0.83 atm of partial pressure of CO at 1773 K by using classical gas-slag-metal equilibrium quenching technique as a function of composition. The distribution results were employed in calculating the sulphide capacities of SiO2-Al2O3-CaO-MgO-MnO slags in equilibrium with the Mn-Fe-Si-Csatd.-S metal phase. It is shown that the sulphur transfer from metal to slag phase increases with increasing the basicity of the slag. As expected, the sulphur distribution ratio decreases by increasing the silica content of the slag system. The effect of metal composition on the sulphide capacities of the slag as well as on the sulphur distribution ratios between the slag and metal phases have been discussed. Emprical relationships were developed to express the sulphur distribution ratios and sulphide capacities of the above slag system.

Jan 1, 2007

By Du Sichen, K. Mukai, S. Seetharaman

Viscosities of slags constitute an important physical property needed for an understanding of the mass transfer phenomena in metallurgical processes. Viscosity is also the key that leads to a better understanding of the structure of slags. It is well known that the viscosities of silicate slags decrease with the addition of basic oxides due to the breaking of the silicate network. The measurements of slag viscosities often pose experimental challenges, especially to the choice of materials. The keynote lecture takes up the experimental problems and the various techniques adopted. Dynamic viscosity measurement, as a powerful tool towards an understanding of the kinetics of some high temperature reactions, is brought out. A number of semi-empirical models have been developed to estimate the slag viscosities in the case of multi component slags. A critical survey of these models is presented in the lecture. Earlier models by Riboud et al., Urbain et al. and Mills et al. have been developed further into a new generation of models. Some of the current important models are (1) Model by Iida et al. (2)CSIRO model (3) Pyro research Model (4) Model by Tanaka et al. (5) Model approach by Reddy et al. and (6) KTH-model. The predictions and capabilities of the various models are compared. Estimations of viscosities from thermodynamic data and prediction of liquidus temperatures from viscosities are presented. The concept of surface viscosities with reference to slags and viscosities of two-phase mixtures are also taken up in the presentation.

Jan 1, 2004

By S. Banisi, S. Zare, M. Mahmoudi, M. Maleki-Moghaddam, M. Yahyaei

As the orebodies become more complex and lower grade, there is an increasing demand from crushing circuits for a finer product. When the product from a crushing circuit does not satisfy the requirements of the downstream processes, the cost of production increases. Thus, enhancing the performance of cone crushers through optimisation of their operating factors becomes important. One of the key factors affecting performance of cone crushers is the filling of the crushing chamber during the operation. The effect of varying the filling of the crushing chamber of a cone crusher was investigated. To assess the crusher performance, parameters such as crusher capacity, power utilisation, and reduction ratio were used. Extensive plant trials were conducted to obtain samples and operational data when the crusher chamber was 50% full (half-full) and 100% full, which is 300 mm above the top of the crusher chamber (super-choked condition). The results indicated a 62% difference in the crushing capacity when the crusher was operated in a super-choked condition compared to the half-full chamber level. In the super-choked condition, the size-specific energy at 12.7 mm was 20 % lower than that of the half-full condition. The Bond ball mill work index (BBWI) of crusher product indicated that the BBWI of the product of the super choked condition is 5.6% less than that of the product of half-full condition. This can be attributed to the generation of micro cracks in particles due to increase in the interparticle breakage when the crusher was operated in the super-choked mode. Keywords: Cone crushers, crushing efficiency, crushing chamber filling

Jan 1, 2020

By G. Kang

The ferroalloys industry has generated historically substantial solid waste. The accumulated waste causes serious problems to the environment. However, it is possible to transform the solid waste into an environment-friendly resource to serve the human being. Consequently, the construction of plants that are ?environment-friendly? and that accommodate ?recycling? has become a target of most ferroalloy producers in the world to ensure sustainable development. This paper introduces the practice of Shanxi Jiaocheng Yiwang Ferroalloys Works, the biggest manganese metal producer in China, in the development of an ?environment-friendly and recycling? process. The process includes power generation using coal gangue, waste from local coal mines; hollow bricks manufacture using slag and fly ash from the power station; cement production using slag from ferroalloy smelting; recovery of ferrous and non-ferrous elements in the dust from the furnace gas cleaning system; application of silica dust in construction and so on. The final objective of the plant is to realize zero discharge of solid waste. The profit of the ?environment-friendly and recycling? process compensates in part for the operational expense of the environment facilities.

Jan 1, 2004

By L. Makua, K. Langa, Ndlovu. S., C. Saguru

"Global demand for the three platinum group metals (PGMs) Pt, Pd, and Rh has been steadily growing due to their widespread use in emission control, industrial catalysis, and numerous other applications. The primary supply of PGMs is currently the mining industry. However, legislative, operational, and environmental challenges faced by many mining operations result in erratic supply patterns and deficits for these three metals. Naturally, recycling scrap material to recover Pt, Pd, and Rh has therefore aroused research interest in the scientific and engineering communities. Given that the majority of the global demand for these three metals is driven by emission control devices, autocatalytic converters are therefore a significant source of already processed and beneficiated PGMs for recycling.Although pyrometallurgical processes dominate the recycling industry, hydrometallurgical processes may offer certain advantages, chief among these being lower emissions and reduced energy consumption. In this investigation, scrap converter material was leached in acidic chloride media and the leach liquor subjected to solvent extraction and cloud point extraction (CPE) to recover the PGMs. The recoveries for Pt and Pd using Alamine 308® dissolved in kerosene with decanol as a modifier were 95% and 81%, respectively. The maximum recoveries using CPE after complexation with 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (2-MBT) in the presence of Triton X-100 and tin (II) chloride dihydrate as a reductant were 97% for Pd, 96% for Pt, and 91% for Rh. This demonstrates that CPE, although relatively new, may have some potential as a breakthrough PGM recovery technology. IntroductionPlatinum group metals (PGMs) have found a wide variety of applications in different industries due to their chemical, catalytic, and physical properties. PGMs are essential in automobile emission abatement, petroleum refining, and the pharmaceutical and electrical industries (Carabias-Martinez et al., 2000). However, the abundance of PGMs in the Earth’s crust is low and their primary sources are fast depleting (Crundwell et al., 2011).The high demand for PGMs, together with social, economic, environmental, and political aspects related to their production, has led to concerns about their future supply. This has resulted in renewed interest in recycling end-of-life material. PGM supply from recycling has doubled over the last decade, and currently contributes 22% to global supply (Johnson Matthey, 2016). This is in part due to the environmental, social, and operational challenges associated with mining of PGMs. For example, labour unrest, energy cuts, declining commodity prices, and declining ore grades have collectively made the mining landscape economically challenging (KPMG, 2015). On the other hand, the high content of PGMs in secondary sources makes their recovery from the increasing quantities of waste products important from a resource conservation viewpoint. Moreover, PGMs obtained through recycling have been demonstrated to have a 1% environmental cost from a life-cycle perspective, whereas PGMs obtained from mining contribute the remaining 99% of environmental cost (Bossi and Gediga, 2017). Sustainable resource recovery and the economic incentive of recycling have therefore been major drivers to justify investment in PGM recycling. The autocatalytic converter industry accounts for about 70% of the global consumption of these metals (Johnson Matthey, 2016) and therefore recycling spent converters has become a major source of Pt, Pd, and Rh (Figure 1)."

May 1, 2019

By Didier Kasongo NYEMBWE

The paper circumscribes the base metal casting industry in Southern Africa. It essentially consists in the founding of copper and zinc alloys. The challenge related to the scarcity and the unaffordable quality patterns and dies faced by the industry is discussed. New manufacturing technologies for foundry tooling called Rapid Prototyping that can possibly be used to alleviate the above mentioned challenge are then presented and their benefits assessed.

Jan 1, 2007

By PC Pistorius, DR Groot

The South African base metals industry has been one mainly focused on the production of metals or metal compounds from primary ores. This is true for metals such as titanium, vanadium, chrome, manganese, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc and aluminium. The steel making industry has traditionally used a substantial portion of scrap steel, and could thus be considered to be somewhat of an exception. Secondary sources have played much less of a role, possibly due to at least some of the following factors. Scrap material is often of unknown composition, and thus it requires additional chemical analysis, and possibly special treatment. Tonnages are relatively small, and the incorporation of secondary materials is possibly seen to carry undue risk and inadequate benefit. South African consumers are still not very conservation and recycling conscious, which limits the amount of scrap made available. This attitude might also be expected to influence decision makers in these industries. Finally, pressure from environmentally motivated activists locally has not been unduly large. This landscape has been changing, and is continuing to do so. Various municipal authorities such as those of Pretoria, Johannesburg and Cape Town are reporting increasingly limited landspace for waste (Bondolfi, 2007). There are increasing concerns regarding the leaching of hazardous metals such as chromium, mercury and cadmium from landfill waste, especially electronic and electric wastes ? the so-called eWastes. In more developed countries such as the United States of America and Western Europe the problem of eWaste has grown to the extent where legislation has been enacted, such as the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) legislation of the EU (European Union Directive 2002/96/EC). The 19th and 20th centuries have seen major technological advances. Relevant to this paper is the availability of centrally generated electrical power, telecommunication, entertainment through recorded and transmitted music and images, the growth and pervasive influence of electronics, and the handling of digital data by computers and microprocessors. These developments have placed ever increasing demands on resources for the manufacture of electrical and electronic equipment, as well as on the generation of electrical power. Most of the resources required are non-renewable: copper, steel, aluminium and other metals, various thermoplastic polymers such as PVC (polyvinyl chloride), polyethylene and ABS ( acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene), thermosetting polymers such as epoxies, elastomers such as butyl rubber, glasses and ceramics, and composites such as fibre reinforced plastic (fibreglass). The conservation of non-renewable resources inevitably includes recycling. To a certain extent, recycling of materials locally is well established. Thus glass, paper, used oil, car batteries, ferrous scrap such as beverage cans and non-ferrous scrap such as

Jan 1, 2007

By J Steyn

Block Cave mining is one method used to extract ore from underground diamond mines as well as other massive orebodies such as copper. This necessitates the excavation of many kilometers of tunnel within the ore body. The integrity of these excavations needs to be maintained over a number of years. Most Kimberlites and weak orebodies are extremely susceptible to degradation when exposed to moisture and the atmosphere. It is therefore essential that some form of weathering protection is applied as soon as possible after exposure. Conventional methods of weathering protection such as shotcrete do not easily fit in with the production schedule, hence the need for a more efficient system that could be applied immediately after exposure and serve as a temporary support or even as a permanent support medium. The main advantages of thin sprayed liners (TSL) compared to shotcrete are the ease of application, speed of application, early strength, much reduced transportation of material, less labour intensive and cost effectiveness. Several Thin Sprayed Liners suitable for various mining environments and geotechnical conditions are available and could be well suited as additional support the undercut level development in a block cave where this may be required. TSL offer a cost effective support solution as an alternative to shotcrete in areas where the building of a support structure is not a requirement.

Jan 1, 2008

By H. M. Krieg, M. J. Ungerer, C. G. C. E. van Sittert, D. J. van der Westhuizen

"The transition metals tantalum (Ta) and niobium (Nb) are of significant importance, for example in the nuclear energy sector where they are used as cladding materials, as well as in capacitors and specialized materials. For these applications a high-purity metal is needed. The separation of Ta and Nb is always a challenge since they are found together in nature and have similar chemical and physical properties, resulting in costly and laborious separation processes. A technology that has been used successfully for the separation of these metals entails solvent extraction (SX)1. While separation was achieved in a previous SX study using a sulphuric acid (H2SO4) medium with the extractants diiso-octyl phosphinic acid (PA) and di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (D2EHPA), due to the absence of speciation data for Ta and Nb it is not clear how the separation occurred.One method that might be suitable for determining the speciation of a reaction is molecular modelling. Calculations based on the densityfunctional theory (DFT) are now used not only for light elements and small molecules, but also metal complexes, heavy metals, and especially metal separation in SX2. In this study the aqueous phase used during SX was investigated by studying periodic systems of Ta, as a metal and in salt form, when it is in contact with H2O and H2SO4. The results were used to predict the reaction mechanism occurring during SX. Results showed that (i) in a 1:1 acid-water ratio, the deprotonation of H2SO4 was endothermic, (ii) in a 1:5 ratio deprotonation was exothermic forming HSO4 -, and (iii) in a 1:10 ratio double deprotonation occurred to form SO42- exothermically."

Jan 1, 2017

By T. F. Cho, B .. O. You, K. S. Yoon, K. S. Won

Discontinuity Orientation Measurement (DOM) drilling system capable of retrieving the reference line-marked core log, which can be used for determining the relative positions and orientations of discontinuity planes along the borehole axis, has been developed. Accuracy of the borehole joints data measured from the reference-lined core and, eventually, the significance and applicability of DOM drilling system for site exploration are verified by comparing with the spatial characteristics of joints investigated by implementing borehole image-taking instruments in the same borehole. Enhancement of boring efficiency has been also confirmed by performing twin drilling operations, one with DOM drilling system and the other with a conventional drilling machine equipped with D-3 core barrel, on two neighbouring sites of 5 m apart. Ein DOM(Diskontinuitätsorientierungsmessung)-Bohrsystem, das durch Grundlinien markierte Bohrprobelog extrahieren kann und die relativen Lagen und die Orientierungen der sich im Bohrloch verbreitenden Flächen bestimmen kann, ist entwickelt worden. Die Wichtigkeit des DOM-Bohrsystems und dessen Anwendbarkeit auf die Erforschung auf dem Bohrplatz werden dadurch bewiesen, dass man die Genauigkeit der Daten der Bohrlochsspalte, die durch die die Grundlinie zeichnende Bohrprobe gemessen werden, mit dem räumlichen Eigenschaften der Spalte vergleicht, die durch die Bildaufnahme des gleichen Bohrlochs nachgeforscht werden. Un system de sondage, Discontinuity Orientation Measurement (DOM), capable de récupérer des carottes markés en une ligne de référence a été dévelopé. Il peux être utilisé pour déterminer les positions relatives et les orientations des plans de discontinuité le long de l’axe de trou de sonde. Leur signification et applicabilité pour une caractérisation de site est verifiée par une comparaison de la précision des données a propos des joints mesurés a partir des carottes markés et les carac-téristigues spatiales des joints enquêtés par le camera de sondage

Jan 1, 2003

By K. Ford, R. Urquhart, D. Hobbs

CIS countries are home to some of the world's largest producers of chrome, manganese and silicon ferro alloys and leading suppliers to world export markets. The region's ferro alloys production is rising faster than demand from its domestic steel industry - unit alloy consumption in domestic steelmaking is in fact falling as process efficiencies improve - and there is significant spare capacity available to increase production. CIS producers enjoy certain strategic advantages in the production of ferro alloys - for example, captive ore sup-plies, low power and labour costs - but must also meet certain challenges - such as lower labour productivity and greater distance to market than some of their competitors. CIS producers are ambitious but new investment is needed to upgrade some aging plants and overhaul outdated process technologies if they are to be more competitive with the world's leading producers and address the environmental issues that are now moving up the agenda. This paper describes the structure of the region's ferro alloys industry and discusses its advantages and disadvantages by alloy and by country. It considers how the ongoing process of restructuring and new investment in the industry might move forwards, based on its strengths and weaknesses, technical and environmental factors and the strategies of the main players. It asks how the industry might maximise its substantial potential - in particular, for the production of chrome and manganese ferro alloys - and examines the implications this holds for all global ferro alloys players.

Jan 1, 2007

By R Kroukamp

Horizontal belt filters are typically used for separation of relatively free filtering solids where good post treatment is required. He horizontal belt filter is a continuous filter with an endless cloth supported on a grooved carrier belt. The belt and cloth are driven around two rollers across a series of evacuated suction boxes. The feed suspension is introduced at one end of the filter and deliquored to produce a cake at the other end. The benefits of using horizontal belt filters are good cake washing, continuous and visible processing, fully automatic operation, flexibility, high capacity and relative high speeds of operation. If required, horizontal belt filters enable efficient counter-current washings to minimize the usage of wash liquid. The horizontal belt filter has applications in the following: [? Metal concentrates ? Mineral sands ? Tailings ? Coal ? Iron ore ? Alumina ? Chloride processing ? Nickel and Cobalt refining ? Platinum group metals ? Zinc processing ? Many other applications in the Mining and Metallurgy industries ] 2. Operating Principle of a Horizontal Vacuum Belt Filter 2.1 Cake Forming The slurry to be dewatered is evenly distributed onto the filtering surface. Gravity assists the cake formation and the feed can be introduced in multiple stages. 2.2 Cake Washing Once the cake is formed, wash liquor/water can be introduced onto the top of the cake via a wash launder or sprays. Multiple wash stages, co-current, counter-current or direct washing can be added by increasing the length of the filter.

Jan 1, 2007

By L. Andrews

Electron microbeam analysis of metallurgical samples covers abroad field and has applications in the areas of minerals processing, hydrometallurgy, pyrometallurgy, physical metallurgy and corrosion. Some idea of the possibilities of microbeam techniques can be illustrated by examining the following example of a run of mine gold ore sample. Milling and bulk chemical analysis of the ore will provide major and minor element analysis as well as the gold grade. More detailed chemistry can also reveal the presence of trace elements that may be advantageous or deleterious to downstream processing. Electron microbeam analysis can provide additional information in the form of size, liberation, association and composition of the gold, the percentage of refractory gold, the size, liberation, association and composition of enclosing sulphide or arsenide phases and the levels and association of the trace elements that may affect processing. In most cases electron microbeam analysis complements bulk chemistry, and does not replace it. Both techniques should be used in parallel for maximum effect. This paper touches on the origin and history of electron microbeam techniques, as well as the theory behind microbeam analysis and processing. The more common types of instruments and their applications will also be dealt with briefly.

Jan 1, 2007

By S. J. Frank

Ferroalloy furnaces are well known to be extremely difficult to control from a metallurgical perspective. Mostly metallurgical control is still reactive in nature, causing a significant amount of reworking and product blending to achieve a proper product specification. Despite numerous efforts towards the model based control of primary smelting operations, actual metallurgical feed forward control seems to remain elusive. One of the key reasons in the failure to model these metallurgical reactors well, is that fundamentally orientated pyrometallurgists, statisticians, data miners and control engineers very often have diverging ideas how to model these systems. Furthermore, metallurgists have often come to rely on their ability to develop empirical regression models of furnace behaviour, as they have lost their faith in the ability of thermochemical and metallurgical engineering fundamentals to accurately predict the outcomes from furnaces. This paper shows how good thermochemical modelling can be combined with proper technological and systems analysis, as well as a proper inventory model, to predict the alloy and slag chemistry with good accuracy one tap into the future, at a time horizon of typically around 4 to 6 hours. For this modelling approach, a number of tools will be used, such as data reconciliation, thermodynamic modelling using Fact Sage®, inventory and heel estimation, neural networks and statistical data exploration. Furthermore, systems identification theory will be combined with the approaches given above to develop a truly dynamic predictive model. This paper seeks to demonstrate the need for a hybrid approach, which incorporates plant data and readily accessible thermodynamic data to develop a proper dynamic model.

Jan 1, 2004

By Dolly Chakraborty, S. Ranganathan, S. N. Sinha

Pre-reduction of chromite outside the submerged-arc furnace (SAF) can significantly lower the specific power consumption in the SAF process. Conventional processes for the pre-reduction of the ore operate at relatively high temperatures, at 1400-1500°C. It is possible to enhance the rate of reduction at low temperatures by optimizing the flow rate of inert gas over the reaction site. The influence of the flow rate of inert gas on the rate of reduction of chromite ore was investigated. The rate of reduction initially decreased wit the flow rate of the gas. It increased subsequently at higher flow rates to be followed by a decrease again. There was an optimum flow rate at which maximum reduction could be obtained. It was possible to achieve high levels of reduction at 1200°C by optimising the flow rate of the gas. The degree of reduction obtained was comparable to that obtained at 1400-1500°C, by conventional process routes.

Jan 1, 2007

By S. G. Ercelebi

In surface mining operations, truck haulage is the largest item in the operating costs, constituting 50 to 60% of the total. In order to reduce this cost, it is necessary to allocate and dispatch the trucks efficiently. This paper describes shovel and truck operation models and optimization approaches for the allocation and dispatching of trucks under various operating conditions. Closed queuing network theory is employed for the allocation of trucks and linear programming for the purpose of truck dispatching to shovels. A case study was applied for the Orhaneli Open Pit Coal Mine in Turkey. This approach would provide the capability of estimating system performance measures (mine throughput, mean number of trucks, mean waiting time, etc.) for planning purposes when the truck fleet is composed of identical trucks. A computational study is presented to show how choosing the optimum number of trucks and optimum dispatching policy affect the cost of moving material in a truck-shovel system. Keywords: Open pit mine, equipment selection, dispatching, linear programming, closed queuing network theory

Jan 1, 2009

By S. Okubo, K. Fukui

Empirical equations established for estimating the rock strength of the working face based on the cutting forces of a tunnel boring machines (TBM) are further examined and discussed with respect to the dominant factors affecting TBM performance. Constants in the equations are related to TBM-specific parameters such as excavation (tunnel) diameter, cutter diameter, and cutter distance. The relationship between the constants and the TBM specifications is examined in this study on the basis of data collected at ten tunnels, and it is found that the constants are most strongly influenced by the cutter diameter and tunnel diameter. Zur Schätzung der Gesteinsfestigkeit an der Arbeitsfläche ermittelte empirische Gleichungen, die auf den Schneidekräften von Tunnelbohrmaschinen (TBM) beruhen, wurden weiter im Hinblick auf die vorherrschenden, die Leistung der TBM beeinflussenden Faktoren hin untersucht und diskutiert. In der Gleichung enthaltene Konstanten werden zu den TBM-spezifischen Parametern wie Auschachtungs- (Tunnel) Durchmesser, Schneidendurchmesser und Schachtlänge in Beziehung gesetzt. Die Beziehung zwischen diesen Konstanten und den technischen Daten der TBM wird in dieser Studie auf der Basis der bei 10 Tunnelbauten gesammelten Daten untersucht. Dabei wurde gefunden, dass diese Konstanten am stärksten von den Durchmessern der Schneiden und der Tunnel beeinflusst werden. Cette étude examine et discute les équations empiriques permettant d'estimer la résistance de la roche attaquée aux forces de coupe des tunneliers dans le cadre de l'étude des facteurs dominants affectant les performances des tunneliers. Les constantes de ces équations concernent les paramètres spécifiques des tunneliers comme le diamètre d'excavation (du tunnel), le diamètre du couteau et la distance de coupe. Cette étude examine le rapport entre ces constantes et les caractéristiques techniques des tunneliers d'après des données collectées dans dix tunnels et elle conclut que ces constantes sont principalement influencées par le diamètre du couteau et le diamètre du tunnel.

Jan 1, 2003

By S. M. Spottiswoode, J. A. L. Napier, M. Kataka

The move away from the use of strike stabilising pillars at depth and the adoption of the more flexible system of mining towards final dip remnant pillars brings new opportunities for optimising mine design. In the initial planning stage, the size and spacing of the final pillars is designed using classical design criteria, through limiting modelled values of Energy Release Rate (ERR), Average Pillar Stress (APS) and Excess Shear Stress (ESS). In reality, mines often leave pillars that are larger than those originally designed. One of the reasons for leaving more ground is an unexpectedly high rate of seismicity. In this paper, we present developments in integration of modelling and seismicity that are aimed at developing design criteria that are more responsive to local conditions.

Jan 1, 2003

Mineral Resource Throughput Management is based on the extraction of the maximum potential value from an ore reserve with the emphasis to generate maximum ROI and ROR (return on reserve). A steel producing company in India implemented MRTM to significantly improve their ROI and ROR. The value chain of this company consists of their own iron ore and coal mines, ore washing plants, sinter plants, steel plants, and sales and marketing division. The target for the mines was to produce at a stable and predictable rate and at specific quality requirements. These requirements were set to improve productivity and ROI of the steel plant. The implementation constituted the alignment of the reserve potential, total production chain, human resources and management culture at the mines with the requirements of the steel plant. Many typical mining practices were challenged and changed. Production targets regarding lump vs. fines ratio, consistent product tons, quality targets such as Fe, Al content and moist, and standard deviation on the quality targets were not achieved. A reverse distribution model with release mechanisms to satisfy the demand were developed and implemented at the mines. A stable and predictable flow of mine product with quality standards well within the required standard deviation targets were achieved. The contribution from the mines to significantly improve the Net Profit, ROI and ROR of the company were reached.

Jan 1, 2007

By B. A. Obadele, R. Machaka, M. L. Raganya, M. E. Makhatha, N. A. Moshokoa

The influence of solution treatment on the phase evolution and tensile properties of Ti-Mo alloys was investigated to assess their potential use in biomedical applications. Phase formation and microstructural evolution were studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). The mechanical properties were characterized by means of tensile tests and bending strength. XRD analysis showed that solution treatment increased the volume fraction of β phase and supressed the α" phase. The microstructures of the as-cast alloys consisted of β equiaxed grains with sub-grain structures of different sizes, while the solution treated alloys comprised β equiaxed grains only except for Ti- 10.02Mo, which comprised needle-like α" structures. EBSD showed an increase in the volume fraction of the ω and α" phases in all the alloys after solution treatment. The elastic modulus and UTS of all the alloy significantly decreased after solution treatment, except for Ti-15.05Mo,whereas the elongation significantly increased. The fracture surfaces of all the alloys after solution treatment indicated more ductile behaviour than brittle

Jun 10, 2024