Evolution of Microstructural and Mechanical Properties during Cold-Rolling Deformation of a Biocompatible Ti-Nb-Zr-Ta Alloy

In this study, a Ti-32.9Nb-4.2Zr-7.5Ta (wt%) titanium alloy was produced by melting in a cold crucible induction in a levitation furnace, and then deforming by cold rolling, with progressive deformation degrees (thickness reduction), from 15% to 60%, in 15% increments. The microstructural characteristics of the specimens in as-received and cold-rolled conditions were determined by XRD and SEM microscopy, while the mechanical characteristics were obtained by tensile and microhardness testing. It was concluded that, in all cases, the Ti-32.9Nb-4.2Zr-7.5Ta (wt%) showed a bimodal microstructure consisting of Ti-β and Ti-α″ phases. Cold deformation induced significant changes in the microstructural and the mechanical properties, leading to grain-refinement, crystalline cell distortions and variations in the weight-fraction ratio of both Ti-β and Ti-α″ phases, as the applied degree of deformation increased from 15% to 60%. Changes in the mechanical properties were also observed: the strength properties (ultimate tensile strength, yield strength and microhardness) increased, while the ductility properties (fracture strain and elastic modulus) decreased, as a result of variations in the weight-fraction ratio, the crystallite size and the strain hardening induced by the progressive cold deformation in the Ti-β and Ti-α″ phases.     

On the Effects of Hot Forging and Hot Rolling on the Microstructural Development and Mechanical Response of a Biocompatible Ti Alloy

Zr, Nb, and Ta as alloying elements for Ti alloys are important for attaining superior corrosion resistance and biocompatibility in the long term. However, note that the addition of excess Nb and Ta to Ti alloys leads to higher manufacturing cost. To develop low-cost manufacturing processes, the effects of hot-forging and continuous-hot-rolling conditions on the microstructure, mechanical properties, hot forgeability, and fatigue strength of Ti-15Zr-4Nb-4Ta alloy were investigated. The temperature dependences with a temperature difference (ΔT) from β-transus temperature (Tβ) for the volume fraction of the α- and β-phases were almost the same for both Ti-15Zr-4Nb-4Ta and Ti-6Al-4V alloys. In the α-β-forged Ti-15Zr-4Nb-4Ta alloy, a fine granular α-phase structure containing a fine granular β-phase at grain boundaries of an equiaxed α-phase was observed. The Ti-15Zr-4Nb-4Ta alloy billet forged at Tβ-(30 to 50) °C exhibited high strength and excellent ductility. The effects of forging ratio on mechanical strength and ductility were small at a forging ratio of more than 3. The maximum strength (σ_max) markedly increased with decreasing testing temperature below Tβ. The reduction in area (R.A.) value slowly decreased with decreasing testing temperature below Tβ. The temperature dependences of σ_max for the Ti-15Zr-4Nb-4Ta and Ti-6Al-4V alloys show the same tendency and might be caused by the temperature difference (ΔT) from Tβ. It was clarified that Ti-15Zr-4Nb-4Ta alloy could be manufactured using the same manufacturing process as for previously approved Ti-6Al-4V alloy, taking into account the difference (ΔT) between Tβ and heat treatment temperature. Also, the manufacturing equivalency of Ti-15Zr-4Nb-4Ta alloy to obtain marketing approval of implants was established. Thus, it was concluded that continuous hot rolling is useful for manufacturing α-β-type Ti alloy.     

Tailoring a Low Young Modulus for a Beta Titanium Alloy by Combining Severe Plastic Deformation with Solution Treatment

The present paper analyzed the microstructural characteristics and the mechanical properties of a Ti–Nb–Zr–Fe–O alloy of β-Ti type obtained by combining severe plastic deformation (SPD), for which the total reduction was of ε_tot = 90%, with two variants of super-transus solution treatment (ST). The objective was to obtain a low Young’s modulus with sufficient high strength in purpose to use the alloy as a biomaterial for orthopedic implants. The microstructure analysis was conducted through X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) investigations. The analyzed mechanical properties reveal promising values for yield strength (YS) and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of about 770 and 1100 MPa, respectively, with a low value of Young’s modulus of about 48–49 GPa. The conclusion is that satisfactory mechanical properties for this type of alloy can be obtained if considering a proper combination of SPD + ST parameters and a suitable content of β-stabilizing alloying elements, especially the Zr/Nb ratio.     

Novel Biocompatible Zr-Based Alloy with Low Young’s Modulus and Magnetic Susceptibility for Biomedical Implants

The microstructure, mechanical properties, magnetic susceptibility, electrochemical corrosion performance, in vitro cell compatibility and blood consistency of Zr-16Nb-xTi (x = 0, 4, 8, 12 and 16 wt.%) materials were investigated as potential materials for biomedical implants. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses revealed the secondary phase martensite α’ formed during the quenching process. The phase composition contained metastable β and martensite α’, resulting from Ti addition. These phase constitutions were the main causes of a low Young’s modulus and magnetic susceptibility. The in vitro cytocompatibility analysis illustrated that the MG63 cells maintained high activity (from 91% to 97%) after culturing in Zr-16Nb-xTi extraction media for 12 days due to the high internal biocompatibility of Zr, Nb and Ti elements, as well as the optimal corrosion resistance of Zr-16Nb-xTi. On the basis of Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) ion release studies, the concentration of Zr, Nb and Ti was noted to reach the equipment detective limit of 0.001 mg/L, which was much lower than pure Ti. With respect to the corrosion behavior in Hank’s solution, Zr-16Nb-16Ti displayed superior properties, possessing the lowest corrosion current density and widest passivation region, attributed to the addition of Ti. The blood compatibility test illustrated that the Zr-16Nb-xTi materials were nonhemolytic, and the platelets maintained a spherical shape, with no aggregation or activation on Zr-16Nb-xTi. Overall, Ti addition has obvious effects on the developed Zr-16Nb-xTi alloys, and Zr-16Nb-4Ti exhibited low magnetic susceptibility, low modulus, good biocompatibility and proper corrosion properties, demonstrating the potential of use as implant biomaterials.     

Assessment of Mechanical,Chemical, and Biological Properties of Ti-Nb-Zr Alloy for Medical Applications

The purpose of this work is to obtain comprehensive reference data of the Ti-13Nb-13Zr alloy base material: its microstructure, mechanical, and physicochemical properties. In order to obtain extensive information on the tested materials, a number of examination methods were used, including SEM, XRD, and XPS to determine the phases occurring in the material, while mechanical properties were verified with static tensile, compression, and bending tests. Moreover, the alloy’s corrosion resistance in Ringer’s solution and the cytotoxicity were investigated using the MTT test. Studies have shown that this alloy has the structure α’, α, and β phases, indicating that parts of the β phase transformed to α’, which was confirmed by mechanical properties and the shape of fractures. Due to the good mechanical properties (E = 84.1 GPa), high corrosion resistance, as well as the lack of cytotoxicity on MC3T3 and NHDF cells, this alloy meets the requirements for medical implant materials. Ti-13Nb-13Zr alloy can be successfully used in implants, including bone tissue engineering products and dental applications.     

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Ti-25Nb-4Ta-8Sn Alloy Prepared by Spark Plasma Sintering

As the commercially most-used Ti-6Al-4V alloy has a different modulus of elasticity compared to the modulus of elasticity of bone and contains allergenic elements, β-Ti alloy could be a suitable substitution in orthopedics. The spark plasma sintering (SPS) method is feasible for the preparation of materials, with very low porosity and fine-grained structure, leading to higher mechanical properties. In this study, we prepared quaternary Ti-25Nb-4Ta-8Sn alloy using the spark plasma sintering method. The material was also heat-treated in order to homogenize the structure and compare the microstructure and properties in as-sintered and annealed states. The SPS sample had a modulus of elasticity of about 63 ± 1 GPa, which, after annealing, increased to the value of 73 ± 1 GPa. The tensile yield strength (TYS) of the SPS sample was 730 ± 52 MPa, ultimate tensile strength (UTS) 764 ± 10 MPa, and ductility 22 ± 9%. Annealed samples reached higher values of TYS and UTS (831 ± 60 MPa and 954 ± 48 MPa), but the ductility decreased to the value of 3 ± 1%. The obtained results are discussed considering the observed microstructure of the alloy.     

Microstructure,Tensile Properties,and Fatigue Behavior of Linear Friction-Welded Ti-6Al-2Sn-4Zr-2Mo-0.1Si

This paper presents the microstructural characteristics and mechanical properties of linear friction-welded (LFWed) Ti-6Al-2Sn-4Zr-2Mo-0.1Si (Ti-6242) in as-welded (AWed) and stress relief-annealed (SRAed) conditions. The weld center (WC) of the AWed Ti-6242 consisted of recrystallized prior-β grains with α’ martensite that were tempered during SRA at 800 °C for 2 h and transformed into an acicular α + β microstructure. The peak hardness values, obtained in the AWed joints at the WC, sharply decreased through the thermomechanically affected zones (TMAZs) to the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of the Ti-6242 parent metal (PM). The SRA lowered the peak hardness values at the WC slightly and fully recovered the observed softening in the HAZ. The tensile mechanical properties of the welds in the AWed and SRAed conditions surpassed the minimum requirements in the AMS specifications for the Ti-6242 alloy. Fatigue tests, performed on the SRAed welds, indicated a fatigue limit of 468 MPa at 10⁷ cycles, just slightly higher than that of the Ti-6242 PM (434 MPa). During tensile and fatigue testing, the welds failed in the PM region, which confirms the high mechanical integrity of the joints. Both the tensile and fatigue fracture surfaces exhibited characteristic features of ductile Ti-6242 PM.     

Material Characterisation and Computational Thermal Modelling of Electron Beam Powder Bed Fusion Additive Manufacturing of Ti2448 Titanium Alloy

Ti-24Nb-4Zr-8Sn (Ti2448) is a metastable β-type titanium alloy developed for biomedical applications. In this work, cylindrical samples of Ti2448 alloy have been successfully manufactured by using the electron beam powder bed fusion (PBF-EB) technique. The thermal history and microstructure of manufactured samples are characterised using computational and experimental methods. To analyse the influence of thermal history on the microstructure of materials, the thermal process of PBF-EB has been computationally predicted using the layer-by-layer modelling method. The microstructure of the Ti2448 alloy mainly includes β phase and a small amount of α″ phase. By comparing the experimental results of material microstructure with the computational modelling results of material thermal history, it can be seen that aging time and aging temperature lead to the variation of α″ phase content in manufactured samples. The computational modelling proves to be an effective tool that can help experimentalists to understand the influence of macroscopic processes on material microstructural evolution and hence potentially optimise the process parameters of PBF-EB to eliminate or otherwise modify such microstructural gradients.     

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of a Medium-Mn Steel with 1.3 GPa-Strength and 40%-Ductility

Steel designs with superior mechanical properties have been urgently needed in automotive industries to achieve energy conservation, increase safety, and decrease weight. In this study, the aging process is employed to enhance the yield strength (YS) by tailoring the distribution of V-rich precipitates and to improve ductility by producing high volume fractions of recrystallized ferrite in cold-rolled medium-Mn steel. A reliable method to acquire ultra-high strength (1.0–1.5 GPa), together with ductility (>40%), is proposed via utilizing non-recrystallized austenite and recrystallized ferrite. Similarly to conventional medium-Mn steels, the TRIP effect, along with the mild TWIP effect, is responsible for the main deformation mechanisms during tensile testing. However, the coupled influence of precipitation strengthening, grain refinement strengthening, and dislocation strengthening contributes to an increase in YS. The studied steel, aged at 650 °C for 5 h, demonstrates a YS of 1078 MPa, ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of 1438 MPa, and tensile elongation (TE) of 30%. The studied steel aged at 650 °C for 10 h shows a UTS of 1306 MPa and TE of 42%, resulting in the best product in terms of of UTS and TE, at 55 GPa·%. Such a value surpasses that of the previously reported medium-Mn steels containing equal mass fractions of various microalloying elements.     

A First-Principles Study of the Cu-Containing β″ Precipitates in Al-Mg-Si-Cu Alloy

The nanostructured β″ precipitates are critical for the strength of Al-Mg-Si-(Cu) aluminum alloys. However, there are still controversial reports about the composition of Cu-containing β″ phases. In this work, first-principles calculations based on density functional theory were used to investigate the composition, mechanical properties, and electronic structure of Cu-containing β″ phases. The results predict that the Cu-containing β″ precipitates with a stoichiometry of Mg_4+xAl_2−xCuSi₄ (x = 0, 1) are energetically favorable. As the concentration of Cu atoms increases, Cu-containing β″ phases with different compositions will appear, such as Mg₄AlCu₂Si₄ and Mg₄Cu₃Si₄. The replacement order of Cu atoms in β″ phases can be summarized as one Si3/Al site → two Si3/Al sites → two Si3/Al sites and one Mg1 site. The calculated elastic constants of the considered β″ phases suggest that they are all mechanically stable, and all β″ phases are ductile. When Cu atoms replace Al atoms at Si3/Al sites in β″ phases, the values of bulk modulus (B), shear modulus (G), and Young’s modulus (E) all increase. The calculation of the phonon spectrum shows that Mg_4+xAl_2−xCuSi₄ (x = 0, 1) are also dynamically stable. The electronic structure analysis shows that the bond between the Si atom and the Cu atom has a covalent like property. The incorporation of the Cu atom enhances the electron interaction between the Mg2 and the Si3 atom so that the Mg2 atom also joins the Si network, which may be one of the reasons why Cu atoms increase the structure stability of the β″ phases.     

Characteristics of the Structure,Mechanical, and Tribological Properties of a Mo-Mo2N Nanocomposite Coating Deposited on the Ti6Al4V Alloy by Magnetron Sputtering

Mo-Mo₂N nanocomposite coating was produced by reactive magnetron sputtering of a molybdenum target, in the atmosphere, of Ar and N₂ gases. Coating was deposited on Ti6Al4V titanium alloy. Presented are the results of analysis of the XRD crystal structure, microscopic SEM, TEM and AFM analysis, measurements of hardness, Young’s modulus, and adhesion. Coating consisted of α-Mo phase, constituting the matrix, and γ-Mo₂N reinforcing phase, which had columnar structure. The size of crystallite phases averaged 20.4 nm for the Mo phase and 14.1 nm for the Mo₂N phase. Increasing nitrogen flow rate leads to the fragmentation of the columnar grains and increased hardness from 22.3 GPa to 27.5 GPa. The resulting coating has a low Young’s modulus of 230 GPa to 240 GPa. Measurements of hardness and Young’s modulus were carried out using the nanoindentation method. Friction coefficient and tribological wear of the coatings were determined with a tribometer, using the multi-cycle oscillation method. Among tested coatings, the lowest friction coefficient was 0.3 and wear coefficient was 10 × 10⁻¹⁶ m³/N∙m. In addition, this coating has an average surface roughness of RMS < 2.4 nm, determined using AFM tests, as well as a good adhesion to the substrate. The dominant wear mechanism of the Mo-Mo₂N coatings was abrasive wear and wear by oxidation. The Mo-Mo₂N coating produced in this work is a prospective material for the elements of machines and devices operating in dry friction conditions.     

Accurate Estimation of Yield Strength and Ultimate Tensile Strength through Instrumented Indentation Testing and Chemical Composition Testing

Federal rule changes governing natural gas pipelines have made non-destructive techniques, such as instrumented indentation testing (IIT), an attractive alternative to destructive tests for verifying properties of steel pipeline segments that lack traceable records. Ongoing work from Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s (PG&E) materials verification program indicates that IIT measurements may be enhanced by incorporating chemical composition data. This paper presents data from PG&E’s large-scale IIT program that demonstrates the predictive capabilities of IIT and chemical composition data, with particular emphasis given to differences between ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and yield strength (YS). For this study, over 80 segments of line pipe were evaluated through tensile testing, IIT, and compositional testing by optical emission spectroscopy (OES) and laboratory combustion. IIT measurements of UTS were, generally, in better agreement with destructive tensile data than YS and exhibited about half as much variability as YS measurements on the same sample. The root-mean squared error for IIT measurements of UTS and YS, respectively, were 27 MPa (3.9 ksi) and 43 MPa (6.2 ksi). Next, a machine learning model was trained to estimate YS and UTS by combining IIT with chemical composition data. The agreement between the model’s estimated UTS and tensile UTS values was only slightly better than the IIT-only measurements, with an RMSE of 21 MPa (3.1 ksi). However, the YS estimates showed much greater improvement with an improved RMSE of 27 MPa (3.9 ksi). The experimental, mechanical, and metallurgical factors that contributed to IIT’s ability to consistently determine destructive UTS, and the differences in its interaction with composition as compared to YS, are discussed herein.     

Comparison of Fatigue Properties and Fatigue Crack Growth Rates of Various Implantable Metals

The fatigue strength, effects of a notch on the fatigue strength, and fatigue crack growth rate of Ti-15Zr-4Nb-4Ta alloy were compared with those of other implantable metals. Zr, Nb, and Ta are important alloying elements for Ti alloys for attaining superior long-term corrosion resistance and biocompatibility. The highly biocompatible Ti-15Zr-4Nb-4Ta alloy exhibited an excellent balance between strength and ductility. Its notched tensile strength was much higher than that of a smooth specimen. The strength of 20% cold-worked commercially pure (C.P.) grade 4 Ti was close to that of Ti alloy. The tension-to-tension fatigue strength of an annealed Ti-15Zr-4Nb-4Ta rod at 10⁷ cycles was approximately 740 MPa. The fatigue strength of this alloy was much improved by aging treatment after solution treatment. The fatigue strengths of C.P. grade 4 Ti and stainless steel were markedly improved by 20% cold working. The fatigue strength of Co-Cr-Mo alloy was markedly increased by hot forging. The notch fatigue strengths of 20% cold-worked C.P. grade 4 Ti, and annealed and aged Ti-15Zr-4Nb-4Ta, and annealed Ti-6Al-4V alloys were less than those of the smooth specimens. The fatigue crack growth rate of Ti-15Zr-4Nb-4Ta was the same as that of Ti-6Al-4V. The fatigue crack growth rate in 0.9% NaCl was the same as that in air. Stainless steel and Co-Cr-Mo-Ni-Fe alloy had a larger stress-intensity factor range (ΔK) than Ti alloy.     

Laser Powder Bed Fusion of Ti-6Al-2Sn-4Zr-6Mo Alloy and Properties Prediction Using Deep Learning Approaches

Ti-6Al-2Sn-4Zr-6Mo is one of the most important titanium alloys characterised by its high strength, fatigue, and toughness properties, making it a popular material for aerospace and biomedical applications. However, no studies have been reported on processing this alloy using laser powder bed fusion. In this paper, a deep learning neural network (DLNN) was introduced to rationalise and predict the densification and hardness due to Laser Powder Bed Fusion of Ti-6Al-2Sn-4Zr-6Mo alloy. The process optimisation results showed that near-full densification is achieved in Ti-6Al-2Sn-4Zr-6Mo alloy samples fabricated using an energy density of 77–113 J/mm³. Furthermore, the hardness of the builds was found to increase with increasing the laser energy density. Porosity and the hardness measurements were found to be sensitive to the island size, especially at high energy density. Hot isostatic pressing (HIP) was able to eliminate the porosity, increase the hardness, and achieve the desirable α and β phases. The developed model was validated and used to produce process maps. The trained deep learning neural network model showed the highest accuracy with a mean percentage error of 3% and 0.2% for the porosity and hardness. The results showed that deep learning neural networks could be an efficient tool for predicting materials properties using small data.     

Characteristics of Friction Plug Joints for AA2219-T87 FSW Welds

In this study, Friction plug welding (FPW) for 8 mm thickness AA2219-T87 sheets were carried out, and defect-free joints were obtained. The geometric size of plug and plate hole, rotational speed and welding force exhibit significant effects on the weld formation. Meanwhile, it is concluded that significant inhomogeneity of microstructure and mechanical properties exists in FPW joints. The recrystallization zone has the highest mechanical properties owing to the fine equiaxed grains and uniformly distributed θ precipitates. The entire plug, thermo-mechanically affected zone and nugget thermo-mechanically affected zone closed to the bonding interface are significantly softened due to the deformation of the grains and θ’ precipitate dissolution. The ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and elongation of the FPW joints can reach 359 MPa and 7.3% at 77 K and 305 MPa and 5% at 298 K, respectively.     

Effect of Al Layer Thickness on the Bonding and Mechanical Behavior of a Mg-(Al-)Ti Laminated Sheet Prepared by Hot-Rolling after Differential Preheating Treatment

Mg-(Al-)Ti laminated sheets with large bonding interfaces were prepared by a differential temperature hot-rolling process, in which the preheating treatment of Ti was 25–100 °C higher than that of Mg. The rolled sheets contained different Al layer thicknesses (≤0.05 mm), and the thickness of the diffused region at the interface of 3–7 μm was formed by rolling at 175 °C. The interfaces were the solid-solution regions of Mg(Al) and Ti(Al), and no intermetallic compounds were generated during both the rolling process and annealing treatment. The hardness of the interfaces was 16–30% greater than that of the Mg matrix and Ti matrix. The results of mechanical tests displayed that the Mg-(Al-)Ti sheets exhibited higher strength and elastic modulus compared to those of the rolled AZ31B sheet. Their UTS and YTS were about 223–460 MPa and 303–442 MPa, respectively, with an elongation of 0.04–0.17 and high elastic modulus of 52–68 GPa. The Mg-Ti (containing about 62 at.% Mg) rolled sheet exhibited the most excellent strength. The UTS and YTS were about 460 MPa and 442 MPa, with an elongation of 0.04 and elastic modulus of 61.5 GPa. Additionally, Mg-Ti sheets with thin Ti thickness possessed a higher work-hardening rate (n), as well as hardening rate, than the rolled Mg-Al-Ti sheets. This is because fractured Ti pieces around the interfaces have a significant strengthening effect. This study provides a simple method for fabricating Mg-(Al-)Ti sheets with high elastic modulus.     

Chemical Composition,Microstructure, Tensile and Creep Behavior of Ti60 Alloy Fabricated via Electron Beam Directed Energy Deposition

Electron beam directed energy deposition (EB-DED) is a promising manufacturing process for the fabrication of large-scale, fully dense and near net shape metallic components. However, limited knowledge is available on the EB-DED process of titanium alloys. In this study, a near-α high-temperature titanium alloy Ti60 (Ti-5.8Al-4Sn-4Zr-0.7Nb-1.5Ta-0.4Si) was fabricated via EB-DED. The chemical composition, microstructure, tensile property (at room temperature and 600 °C), and creep behavior of the fabricated alloy were investigated and compared with those of the conventional wrought lamellar and bimodal counterparts. Results indicated that the average evaporation loss of Al and Sn was 10.28% and 5.01%, respectively. The microstructure of the as-built alloy was characterized by coarse columnar grains, lamellar α, and the precipitated elliptical silicides at the α/β interfaces. In terms of tensile properties, the vertical specimens exhibited lower strength but higher ductility than the horizontal specimens at both room temperature and 600 °C. Furthermore, the tensile creep strain of the EB-DED Ti60 alloy measured at 600 °C and 150 MPa for 100 h under as-built and post-deposition STA conditions was less than 0.15%, which meets the standard requirements for the wrought Ti60 alloy. The creep resistance of the EB-DED Ti60 alloy was superior to that of its wrought bimodal counterpart.     

Investigation of Microstructure and Mechanical Properties for Ti-6Al-4V Alloy Parts Produced Using Non-Spherical Precursor Powder by Laser Powder Bed Fusion

An unmodified, non-spherical, hydride-dehydride (HDH) Ti-6Al-4V powder having a substantial economic advantage over spherical, atomized Ti-6Al-4V alloy powder was used to fabricate a range of test components and aerospace-related products utilizing laser beam powder-bed fusion processing. The as-built products, utilizing optimized processing parameters, had a Rockwell-C scale (HRC) hardness of 44.6. Following heat treatments which included annealing at 704 °C, HIP at ~926 °C (average), and HIP + anneal, the HRC hardnesses were observed to be 43.9, 40.7, and 40.4, respectively. The corresponding tensile yield stress, UTS, and elongation for these heat treatments averaged 1.19 GPa, 1.22 GPa, 8.7%; 1.03 GPa, 1.08 GPa, 16.7%; 1.04 GPa, 1.09 GPa, 16.1%, respectively. The HIP yield strength and elongation of 1.03 GPa and 16.7% are comparable to the best commercial, wrought Ti-6Al-4V products. The corresponding HIP component microstructures consisted of elongated small grains (~125 microns diameter) containing fine, alpha/beta lamellae.     

Deformation and Phase Transformation of Disordered α Phase in the (α + γ) Two-Phase Region of a High-Nb TiAl Alloy

In this paper, the deformation and phase transformation of disordered α phase in the (α + γ) two-phase region in as-forged Ti-44Al-8Nb-(W, B, Y) alloy were investigated by hot-compression and hot-packed rolling. The detailed microstructural evolution demonstrated that the deformed microstructure was significantly affected by the deformation conditions, and the microstructure differences were mainly due to the use of a lower temperature and strain rate. Finer α grains were formed by the continuous dynamic recrystallization of α lamellae and α grains distributed around lamellar colonies. Moreover, the grooved γ grains formed by the phase transformation from α lamellae during hot rolling cooperated with and decomposed α lamellae. A microstructure evolution model was built for the TiAl alloy at 1250 °C during hot rolling.     

Improving the Mechanical Response of Al–Mg–Si 6082 Structural Alloys during High-Temperature Exposure through Dispersoid Strengthening

The feasibility and efficacy of improving the mechanical response of Al–Mg–Si 6082 structural alloys during high temperature exposure through the incorporation of a high number of α-dispersoids in the aluminum matrix were investigated. The mechanical response of the alloys was characterized based on the instantaneous high-temperature and residual room-temperature strengths during and after isothermal exposure at various temperatures and durations. When exposed to 200 °C, the yield strength (YS) of the alloys was largely governed by β” precipitates. At 300 °C, β” transformed into coarse β’, thereby leading to the degradation of the instantaneous and residual YSs of the alloys. The strength improvement by the fine and dense dispersoids became evident owing to their complementary strengthening effect. At higher exposure temperatures (350–450 °C), the further improvement of the mechanical response became much more pronounced for the alloy containing fine and dense dispersoids. Its instantaneous YS was improved by 150–180% relative to the base alloy free of dispersoids, and the residual YS was raised by 140% after being exposed to 400–450 °C for 2 h. The results demonstrate that introducing thermally stable dispersoids is a cost-effective and promising approach for improving the mechanical response of aluminum structures during high temperature exposure.