HSPT
Process

The Hydrogen Sintering and Phase Transformation (HSPT) process is an innovative powder metallurgy process developed by Dr. Zak Fang and his team at the University of Utah. HSPT enables the low-cost production of near-net-shape titanium parts with similar properties to traditional forged or wrought parts.  

In traditional wrought manufacturing, multiple energy intensive and expensive forging and machining steps are required to produce a titanium bar, plate, or sheet, and the subsequent machining required to make a part by subtractive manufacturing results in significant levels of scrap generation.  

While powder metallurgy and additive manufacturing generate less waste and can be lower-cost alternatives to traditional manufacturing, titanium parts manufactured by these alternative approaches typically have poor mechanical properties and often rely on expensive post-sintering thermal mechanical processing (TMP). In contrast, HSPT enables the use of powder metallurgical processes to obtain wrought-like microstructures in near-net-shapes without TMP. 

By combining powder metallurgy or additive manufacturing with the HSPT processing technology, we can produce near-net-shape titanium parts with an ultra-fine-grain microstructure. These parts have the potential to be produced at a fraction of the cost and with greatly reduced scrap generation, while achieving properties similar to those produced by forging.