Application of the Zero-Order Reaction Rate Model and Transition State Theory to predict porous Ti6Al4V bending strength

Porous Ti6Al4V samples were produced by microsphere sintering. The Zero-Order Reaction Rate Model and Transition State Theory were used to model the sintering process and to estimate the bending strength of the porous samples developed. The evolution of the surface area during the sintering process was used to obtain sintering parameters (sintering constant, activation energy, frequency factor, constant of activation and Gibbs energy of activation). These were then correlated with the bending strength in order to obtain a simple model with which to estimate the evolution of the bending strength of the samples when the sintering temperature and time are modified: σ Y = P + B · ln T · t − Δ G a R · T . Although the sintering parameters were obtained only for the microsphere sizes analysed here, the strength of intermediate sizes could easily be estimated following this model.