Originally Posted by
old's'cool
Powder metallurgy is one way to form finished or semi-finished products. It is most suitable for complex shapes that are not economical to produce from billet, forgings, or castings, for whatever reason. Due to the presence of myriad crack origin sites that are generally present in a powdered metal product, the full yield strength of the native material tends to be unrealized. IMO, powder metallurgy would be a poor way to manufacture spokes, and I doubt that it is practiced.
Agreed, which is precisely the issue. I have read that older titanium alloy were prone to breakage. It was the addition of some aluminum and vanadium into the alloys that has improved the properties a lot.
I'll have to go read-up on titanium refining.
ETA - not powder but titanium sponge but still subject to the same problems - very high surface area to volume ratio which can trap imputities.