Development and Research of Low-Cost Titanium Alloys, Especially Case of Japan

Abstract

Titanium (Ti) exhibits many attractive properties that enable practical applications. It is also considered to be a ubiquitous element, since it has the ninth highest Clarke number among all the elements. However, the principal beta-stabilizing elements for Ti, molybdenum and vanadium, can be very expensive, and so many Ti alloys are also costly. For this reason, less expensive alloying elements would be preferable. Iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) are beta stabilizers for Ti alloys that are readily available, since they have the fourth and eleventh highest Clarke numbers, respectively. Furthermore, since Fe has a large diffusion coefficient in the beta phase of Ti, precipitation of the omega phase occurs more quickly when Fe is added. The behaviors of Ti-Mn and Mn-Fe alloys during heat treatment have been investigated and it has been found that, in some alloys, the isothermal omega phase is precipitated. Because this phase can lead to brittleness of the alloy, it is very important to suppress its precipitation. Since it is well known that aluminum (Al) suppresses isothermal omega precipitation, the present work investigated the effects of Al content on the phase constitution and heat treatment behavior of Ti-8.5 mass%Mn-1 mass%Fe-0, 1.5, 3.0 and 4.5 mass%Al alloys using electrical resistivity, Vickers hardness, and X-ray diffraction measurements. In the case of each of these alloys, whether solution-treated or water-quenched, only the beta phase was identified. The resistivities at room and liquid nitrogen temperatures were found to increase monotonically with Al content, while the Vickers hardness decreased up to 3 mass% Al and then remained constant. The addition of Al was found to suppress omega precipitation.