Effect of Alloying Elements in Hot-Rolled Metastable β-Titanium Alloys. Part II: Mechanical Properties

Abstract

This paper describes the tensile properties, flow and work-hardening behavior of four metastable β-titanium alloys Ti-5Al-5Mo-5V-3Cr (A1), Ti-5Al-3.5Mo-7.2V-3Cr (A2), Ti-5Al-5Mo-8.6V-1.5Cr (A3), and Ti-5Al-3.5Mo-5V-3.94Cr (A4) in α+β hot-rolled condition. The decreasing order of average strength parameters (σ YS and σ UTS) is A4, A2, A1, and A3. The maximum strength observed in alloy A4 is due to the presence of highest wt. fraction of Cr. The elongation is the maximum and minimum in alloys A3 and A4, respectively. These alloys display moderate to high percent in-plane anisotropy (A IP) and reasonably low anisotropic index (δ) values. Both the A IP and δ values are maximum and minimum in alloys A1 and A3, respectively. The yield locus plots also exhibit the presence of anisotropy due to relatively large differences in yield strength values along tension and compression directions. The flow behavior of alloys A1, A2, and A4 follows Swift equation, while the alloy A3 displays best fit with Holloman equation. The presence of prestrain (e 0) in hot-rolled materials before tensile testing has an important bearing on the flow curves of A1, A2, and A4 alloys. The instantaneous work-hardening rate curves of the alloys A1, A2, and A3 exhibit all the three typical stages (stage I, stage II, and stage III) in RD samples, while the alloy A4 shows the presence of only stage I and stage III. The 45 deg to RD and TD samples of alloys A1, A2, and A4 display only stage I. The stages I and III as well as I and II are present in alloy A3 in 45 deg to RD and TD samples, respectively. Dislocation-controlled strain hardening occurs in all the three stages of these alloys in the absence of stress-induced martensitic transformation (α″) and twinning. Slip is the predominant deformation mechanism during tensile testing. Three types of slip lines, i.e., planar, wavy, and intersecting have been observed close to fracture surfaces of post tensile-tested specimens.