Achieving Superior Strength and Ductility in Ti-6Al-4V Recycled from Machining Chips by Equal Channel Angular Pressing

Abstract

Ti-6Al-4V machining chips were recycled using equal channel angular pressing. The as-recycled material was fully dense and well bonded, but contained chip boundaries decorated by entrapped surface oxide, giving rise to brittleness in tensile loading. Annealing at high temperatures was effective in removing the oxide. The times required for completely dissolving the oxide layers were calculated using models based on oxygen diffusion in α- and β-Ti, respectively. It is shown that the oxide dissolution is rapid, taking from several minutes to less than one second at temperatures between 973 K and 1323 K (700 °C and 1050 °C) for thicknesses of up to 1 μm. In addition, bands of grains finer than those in the matrix occurred in the vicinity of the prior chip boundaries, caused by the enhanced level of oxygen diffusing away from the dissolving oxide which hindered local grain growth. It would take hours of annealing to homogenize the grain size and composition. The as-recycled material was subjected to conventional mill-annealing, leading to a finer microstructure with superior yield strength (~1150 MPa) and equivalent tensile ductility (~25 pct), compared to a commercial mill-annealed Ti-6Al-4V.