Strengthening and toughening of layered Ti-Al metal composites by controlling local strain contribution

Abstract

Layered Ti-Al metal composites (LMCs) with different thickness ratios of the Ti and Al layers were fabricated by hot-rolling and annealing. To study the effect of layer thickness on the mechanical properties of LMCs from the viewpoint of local strain distribution, the strain evolution of LMCs was investigated via in-situ tensile testing. It is found that the mechanical properties of LMCs are correlated with the degree of strain localization. Suppressing strain localization during plastic deformation is crucial to achieve the goal of both strengthening and toughening in LMCs. Additionally, the layered structure can facilitate the redistribution of strain localization, and the transfer of strain localization can be effectively controlled by changing the thickness ratio of the Ti and Al layers.