X-ray fluorescence analysis of titanium alloys.

An X-ray solution method is proposed for determining major amounts of Mo, Sn and Zr in Ti alloys. The method utilizes adjacent elements in the periodic table as internal standards and has been successfully applied to levels of 3-10% Sn, 11-40% Mo and 6-20% Zr. The procedure involves three steps: dissolving the sample with a suitable acid mixture; adding the suitable internal standard at the concentration levels experimentally found to give optimum accuracy and precision; analysing the resulting solution mixture by X-ray fluorescence. Antimony was found to be a suitable internal standard for its adjacent element tin at a concentration ratio of 3:1 Sb:Sn. Niobium was successfully used for both its adjacent elements, molybdenum and zirconium, at 2:1 concentration ratios, Nb:Mo and Nb:Zr. A number of elements non-adjacent to tin, molybdenum and zirconium (i.e., copper, bromine, titanium, bismuth and tantalum) were experimentally found unsuitable as internal standards. Concentration factors of the internal standard and the adjacent elements sought were found to affect significantly the precision of analysis.