Method of manufacturing titanium and titanium alloy products

A method of manufacturing titanium or titanium alloy semi-finished or ready-to-use products which includes the steps of:

• (a) forming shaped bodies of titanium oxide particles;
• (b) positioning the shaped bodies in an electrolytic cell which includes:
• an anode, a cathode, and a molten electrolyte, with the shaped bodies forming at least a part of the cathode, and with the electrolyte including cations of a metal that is capable of chemically reducing titanium oxide;
• (c) reducing the titanium oxide to titanium in a solid state in the electrolytic cell by operating the cell at a potential that is above a potential at which cations of the metal that is capable of chemically reducing the cathode metal oxide deposit as the metal on the cathode, the metal chemically reducing the cathode metal oxide, so that the shaped bodies become shaped bodies of titanium sponge;
• and
• (d) processing the shaped bodies of titanium sponge to reduce the volume or at least one of the dimensions of the bodies thereby to form the semi-finished or ready-to-use products.

A method of manufacturing titanium or titanium alloy semi-finished or ready-to-use products which includes the steps of:

• (a) forming shaped bodies of titanium oxide particles;
• (b) positioning the shaped bodies in an electrolytic cell which includes:
• an anode, a cathode, and a molten CaCl2-based electrolyte that includes CaO as one of the constituents of the electrolyte, with the shaped bodies forming at least a part of the cathode, and with the electrolyte including cations of a metal that is capable of chemically reducing titanium oxide;
• (c) reducing the titanium oxide to titanium in a solid state in the electrolytic cell so that the shaped bodies become shaped bodies of titanium sponge;
• and
• (d) processing the shaped bodies of titanium sponge to reduce the volume or at least one of the dimensions of the bodies thereby to form the semi-finished or ready-to-use products.