Effect of thermo-mechanical treatment on mechanical and elastic properties of Ti–36Nb–5Zr alloy

The evolutions of phase constitutions and mechanical properties of a β-phase Ti–36Nb–5Zr(wt%) alloy during thermo-mechanical treatment were investigated. The alloy consisted of dual(β t α″) phase and exhibited a double yielding phenomenon in solution treated state. After cold rolling and subsequent annealing at 698 K for 20 min, an excellent combination of high strength(833 MPa) and low modulus(46 GPa) was obtained. The high strength can be attributed to high density of dislocations, nanosized α phase and grain refinement. On the other hand, the low Young's modulus originates from the suppression of chemical stabilization of β phase during annealing, which guarantees the low β-phase stability. Furthermore, the single-crystal elastic constants of the annealed Ti–36Nb–5Zr alloy were extracted from polycrystalline alloy using an in-situ synchrotron X-ray technique. The results indicated that the low shear modulus C44 contributes to the low Young's modulus for the Ti–36Nb–5Zr alloy, suggesting that reducing C44 through thermo-mechanical treatment might be an efficient approach to realize low Young's modulus in β-phase Ti alloys. The results achieved in this study could be helpful to elucidate the origin of low modulus and sheds light on developing novel biomedical Ti alloys with both low modulus and high strength.     

Microstruct ural evolution and mechanical behavior of metastable β -type Ti – 25Nb–2Mo – 4Sn alloy with high strength and low modulus

This paper presents a systematic study of newly developed metastable β-type Ti-25Nb-2Mo-4Sn (wt%) alloy with high strength and low elastic modulus, with focus on the microstructural evolution and mechanical behavior associated with aging. The pre-treatment (solution treatment or cold rolling) prior to aging exerts substantial influence on the subsequent aging response including microstructural evolution and mechanical behavior. Even under the same aging treatment, the aging products could be (β+ω), or alternatively (β+α), depending on the pre-treatments. This interesting aging response was discussed on the basis of the mechanism for ω formation. High-density dislocation tangles and grain boundaries induced by severe cold rolling play a key role in hindering the transition from β to isothermal ω, favoring the precipitation of α phase on aging. By aging cold-rolled specimen for short time, superior mechanical properties, i.e. high ultimate strength of ～1113 MPa and low elastic modulus of ～65 GPa, achieved in Ti-25Nb-2Mo-4Sn alloy. The characterization of microstructural evolution and compositional change indicated that the precipitation of fine α does not cause the enrichment of β-stabilizers in β matrix upon a short-time aging, guaranteeing low elastic modulus of the short-time aged specimen. Meanwhile, fine α precipitates as well as dislocations play a crucial part in strengthening, giving rise to its high yield strength and high ultimate tensile strength.     

Microstructural evolution and mechanical behavior of metastable β-type Ti–30Nb–1Mo–4Sn alloy with low modulus and high strength

A metastable P-type Ti-30Nb-lMo-4Sn alloy with ultralow elastic modulus and high strength was fabricated.Under the solution treatment state,the Ti-30Nb-1Mo-4Sn alloy possesses low yield strength of about 130 MPa owing to the presence of the coarse α " martensitic laths.Upon a cold rolling and annealing process,the martensitic transformation from β to α" is significantly retarded due to the inhibitory effect of grain boundaries and dislocations.As a result,the metastable β phase with low total amount of β-stabilizers is retained to room temperature,giving rise to a low modulus of 45 GPa.Meanwhile,nano-sized a precipitates and dislocation tangles play a key role in strengthening the Ti-30Nb-1Mo-4Sn alloy,resulting in a high tensile strength of ~ 1000 MPa.With low elastic modulus and high strength,the metastable P-type Ti-30Nb-1Mo-4Sn alloy could be a potential candidate for biomedical materials.     

Peculiar aging response of near b Ti–25 Nb–2Mo–4Sn alloy for biomedical applications

In this paper,aging response of a recently developed near β Ti-25Nb-2Mo-4Sn(wt%) alloy with high strength and low modulus was investigated intensively.The experimental results from X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy showed that the aging production of the Ti-2524 alloy was(β+ω) or(β+α) even under the same aging treatment condition,depending on the pre-treatments prior to the aging.Solid evidence confirmed the competition between stable α phase and metastable ω phase during the decomposition of β phase on aging.Different aging response of Ti-2524 alloy can be attributed to high-density dislocations and grain boundaries which suppress the formation of ω,and alternatively promote a phase formation.This provides a thermo-mechanical approach to inhibit deleterious ω phase formation and assist fine α phase precipitation.Upon an appropriate aging treatment,superior mechanical properties of high ultimate tensile strength(1233 MPa) and low elastic modulus(77 GPa) were achieved in Ti-2524 alloy.     

Microstructure and mechanical properties of spark plasma sintered Ti-Mo alloys for dental applications

Ti-Mo alloys with various Mo contents from 6wt% to 14wt% were processed by spark plasma sintering based on elemental powders. The influence of sintering temperature and Mo content on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the resulting alloys were investigated. For each Mo concentration, the optimum sintering temperature was determined, resulting in a fully dense and uniform microstructure of the alloy. The optimized sintering temperature gradually increases in the range of 1100–1300℃ with the increase in Mo content. The microstructure of the Ti-(6–12)Mo alloy consists of acicular α phase surrounded by equiaxed grains of β phase, while the Ti-14Mo alloy only contains single β phase. A small amount of fine α lath precipitated from β phase contributes to the improvement in strength and hardness of the alloys. Under the sintering condition at 1250℃, the Ti-12Mo alloy is found to possess superior mechanical properties with the Vickers hardness of Hv 472, the compressive yield strength of 2182 MPa, the compression rate of 32.7%, and the elastic modulus of 72.1 GPa. These results demonstrate that Ti-Mo alloys fabricated via spark plasma sintering are indeed a perspective candidate alloy for dental applications.     

Microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of Ti-8Nb-2Fe-0.2O alloy with high elastic admissible strain for orthopedic implant applications

A Ti-8Nb-2Fe-0.2O(wt.%) alloy with high strength,high elastic admissible strain(δ) and low cost was designed using d-electron theory combined with electron-to-atom ratio(e/a) approach.Interstitial oxygen was introduced to strengthen the matrix of the alloy.The β-solution treated alloy was mainly composed of α " martensite with internal {111}_(α") type Ⅰ nano-twins.The α " martensite with hexagonal-like crystal structure caused by interstitial oxygen showed a high strength of 1.1 GPa but limited ductility.The alloy generated equiaxed fine-grained a phase embedded by β matrix via hot rolling and subsequent annealing in α+β phase field.The obtained alloy indicated a good combination of mechanical properties with ultimate tensile strength,Young's modulus,ductility and δ value of 1029 MPa,74 GPa,21% tensile elongation and 1.32%,respectively.These findings demonstrate that interstitial oxygen and martensitic nano-twins can be used to strengthen the soft α" martensite and high elastic admissible strain can be obtained by formation of equiaxed fine-grained α phase embedded by βmatrix in this Ti-8Nb-2Fe-0.2O alloy for orthopedic implant.     

A Ti–Zr–Cu–Ni–Co–Fe–Al–Sn amorphous filler metal for improving the strength of Ti–6Al–4V alloy brazing joint

Ti_(50)Zr_(27)Cu_8Ni_4Co_3Fe_2Al_3Sn_3(at%) amorphous filler metal with low Cu and Ni contents in a melt-spun ribbon form was developed for improving mechanical properties of Ti–6Al–4V alloy brazing joint through decreasing brittle intermetallics in the braze zone. Investigation on the crystallization behavior of the multicomponent Ti–Zr–Cu–Ni–Co–Fe–Al–Sn amorphous alloy indicates the high stability of the supercooled liquid against crystallization that favors the formation of amorphous structure. The Ti–6Al–4V joint brazed with this Ti-based amorphous filler metal with low total content of Cu and Ni at 1203K for 900s mainly consists of α-Ti, β-Ti,minor Ti–Zr-rich phase and only a small amount of Ti_3Cu intermetallics, leading to the high shear strength of the joint of about 460 MPa. Multicomponent composition design of amorphous alloys is an effective way of tailoring filler metals for improving the joint strength.     

Microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of a large-sized ingot of Mg–9Gd–3Y–1.5Zn–0.5Zr(wt%) alloy after a lower-temperature homogenization treatment

In this paper,a large-sized ingot of Mg–9Gd–3Y–1.5Zn–0.5Zr(wt%) alloy with a diameter of 600 mm was successfully prepared by the semi-continuous casting method.The alloy was subsequently annealed at a relatively low temperature of 430°C for 12 h as a homogenization treatment.The microstructure and room-temperature mechanical properties of the alloy were investigated systematically.The results show that the as-cast alloy contained a mass of discontinuous lamellar-shaped 18 R long-period stacking ordered(LPSO) phases with a composition of Mg10 Zn Y and an α-Mg matrix,along with net-shaped Mg5(Y,Gd) eutectic compounds at the grain boundaries.Most of the eutectic compounds dissolved after the homogenization treatment.Moreover,the amount and dimensions of the lamellar-shaped LPSO phase obviously increased after the homogenization treatment.The structure of the phase transformed into 14H-type LPSO with composition Mg12Zn(Y,Gd).The mechanical properties of the heat-treated large-sized alloy ingot are uniform.The ultimate tensile strength(UTS) and tensile yield strength(TYS) of the alloy reached 207.2 MPa and 134.8 MPa,respectively,and the elongation was 3.4%.The high performances of the large-sized alloy ingot after the homogenization treatment is attributed to the strengthening of the α-Mg solid solution and to the plentiful LPSO phase distributed over the α-Mg matrix.     

Ti – Cu– Zr–Fe– Nb ultrafine structur e-dendrite composites with good mechanical properties and biocompat ibility

Ti-Cu-Zr-Fe-Nb ultrafine structure-dendrite composites were designed by inducing Nb and more Ti to a Ti-Cu-Zr-Fe glass-forming alloy composition and prepared by copper mold casting.The composite alloys consist of β-Ti dendrites and ultrafine-structured CuTi₂ and CuTi phases as well as a trace amount of glassy phase.The volume fraction of β-Ti dendrites increases with the increase in content of Nb which acted as the β-Ti phase stabilizer in the alloys.The composites exhibit high compressive yield strength exceeding1200 MPa,maximum strength around 1800 MPa and low Young’s modulus around 48 GPa.The plasticity of the alloys is strongly influenced by the volume fraction and morphology of the dendritic β-Ti phase,and the compressive plastic strain was enlarged from 5.9%for the 4 at%Nb alloy to 9.2%for the 8 at%Nb alloy.The preliminary cell culture experiment indicated good biocompatibility of the composite alloys free from highly toxic elements Ni and Be.These Ti-based composite alloys are promising to have potential structural and biomedical applications due to the combination of good mechanical properties and biocompatibility.     

多级热处理对TC21钛合金组织和力学性能的影响

Duplex-structured TC21 alloy samples were first solution-treated at a higher temperature in the α + β region (940°C) with furnace cooling (FC), air cooling (AC), and water cooling (WC), followed by a second-stage solution treatment at a lower temperature in the α + β region (900°C), and then finally aged at 590°C. The effects of the morphology and quantity of α phases on the structure and properties of the TC21 alloy after the different heat treatments were analyzed. The in-situ tensile deformation process and crack propagation behavior were observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The quantity of equiaxed α phases as well as the thickness of lamellar α phases reduced, the tensile strength increased firstly and then decreased, the elongation decreased with the increasing cooling rate after the first-stage solution treatment. The amount and size of lamellar α phases increased after the second-stage solution treatment because of sufficient diffusion of the alloying elements, thereby leading to increased tensile strength. The amount of dispersed α phases increased after the third-stage aging treatment owing to the increase in the nucleation rate, resulting in a noteworthy strengthening effect. After the third-stage aging treatment, the first-stage FC sample exhibited better mechanical properties because it contained more equiaxed α and β_trans phases than the first-stage AC and WC samples.     

Microstructures and mechanical properties of a new titanium alloy for surgical implant application

A new titanium alloy Ti12.5Zr2.5Nb2.5Ta (TZNT) for surgical implant application was synthesized and fully annealed at 700℃ for 45 min. The microstructure and the mechanical properties such as tensile properties and fatigue properties were investigated. The results show that TZNT mainly consists of a lot of lamella α-phase clusters with different orientations distributed in the original β-phase grain boundaries and a small amount of β phases between the lamella α phases. The alloy exhibits better ductility, lower modulus of elasticity, and lower admission strain in comparison with Ti6Al4V and Ti6Al7Nb, indicating that it has better biomechanical compatibility with human bones. The fatigue limit of TZNT is 333 MPa, at which the specimen has not failed at 107 cycles. A large number of striations present in the stable fatigue crack propagation area, and many dimples in the fast fatigue crack propagation area are observed, indicating the ductile fracture of the new alloy.     

Influence of multi-stage heat treatment on the microstructure and mechanical properties of TC21 titanium alloy

Duplex-structured TC21 alloy samples were first solution-treated at a higher temperature in the α + β region(940°C) with furnace cooling(FC), air cooling(AC), and water cooling(WC), followed by a second-stage solution treatment at a lower temperature in the α + β region(900°C), and then finally aged at 590°C. The effects of the morphology and quantity of α phases on the structure and properties of the TC21 alloy after the different heat treatments were analyzed. The in-situ tensile deformation process and crack propagation behavior were observed using scanning electron microscopy(SEM). The quantity of equiaxed α phases as well as the thickness of lamellar α phases reduced, the tensile strength increased firstly and then decreased, the elongation decreased with the increasing cooling rate after the first-stage solution treatment. The amount and size of lamellar α phases increased after the second-stage solution treatment because of sufficient diffusion of the alloying elements, thereby leading to increased tensile strength. The amount of dispersed α phases increased after the third-stage aging treatment owing to the increase in the nucleation rate, resulting in a noteworthy strengthening effect. After the third-stage aging treatment, the first-stage FC sample exhibited better mechanical properties because it contained more equiaxed α and βtrans phases than the first-stage AC and WC samples.     

α′ Type Ti– Nb– Zr alloys with ultra-low Young's modulus and high strength

a’ phase based Ti-Nb-Zr alloys with low Young’s modulus and high strength were prepared,and their microstructure and mechanical properties were characterized.It was revealed that the lattice expansion by Nb and Zr addition as well as the presence of a few of a" martensite might be responsible for the low modulus achieved.Ti-15Nb-9Zr alloy,with ultralow modulus of 39 GPa and high strength of850 MPa,could be a potential candidate for biomedical applications.     

Effect of cold rolling process on microstructure and mechanical properties of high strength β titanium alloy thin sheets

The microstructure and mechanical properties of Ti-3.5Al-5Mo-6V-3Cr-2Sn-0.5Fe high strength titanium alloy sheets prepared by unidirectional cold rolling and two-step cross cold rolling were investigated. Results showed that the β phase grains were refined significantly by cold rolling followed by solution treatment for a short time.Compared to unidirectional cold rolling, the short time solution treatment after two-step cross rolling could significantly reduce the non-uniformity of the microstructure of the alloy sheets. After aging treatment at 550 ℃,the anisotropy of the mechanical properties still existed in the unidirectional rolled sheets, and the tensile strength was highest along the rolling direction. After solution and aging treatment, the anisotropy of the mechanical properties of the two-step cross rolling process sheet was not obvious than unidirectional cold rolling,and alloy had good strength and plasticity matching.     

Development of high-strength,low-cost wrought Mg–2.0 mass% Zn alloy with high Mn content

Mg–Zn–Mn-based alloys have received considerable attention because of their high creep resistance, strength,and good corrosion resistance. The alloying element Mn in Mg–Zn-based alloys is commonly less than 1 wt%. In the present study, the effect of high Mn content(1 wt% and 2 wt%) on the microstructures and mechanical properties of Mg–2Zn–0.3Sr extruded alloy was investigated. The results revealed that the high Mn content significantly increased the ultimate tensile strength, tensile yield strength, compress yield strength, and yield asymmetry of the alloy without affecting its ductility. The dynamically recrystallized(DRXed) grains of Mg–2Zn–0.3Sr were remarkably refined because of the large amount of fine Mn precipitates in the homogenized alloy. The improved strengths were mainly attributed to the fine DRXed grains according to the Hall–Petch effect and to the large amount of spherical and 0001 Mn precipitates through the precipitation and dispersion strengthening. The fine DRXed grains and numerous Mn precipitates effectively suppressed the extension twining, substantially enhanced the compress yield strength, and resulted in improved anisotropy.     

Microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of a large-sized ingot of Mg-9Gd-3Y-1.5Zn-0.5Zr (wt%) alloy after a lower-temperature homogenization treatment

In this paper, a large-sized ingot of Mg-9Gd-3Y-1.5Zn-0.5Zr (wt%) alloy with a diameter of 600 mm was successfully prepared by the semi-continuous casting method. The alloy was subsequently annealed at a relatively low temperature of 430℃ for 12 h as a homogenization treatment. The microstructure and room-temperature mechanical properties of the alloy were investigated systematically. The results show that the as-cast alloy contained a mass of discontinuous lamellar-shaped 18R long-period stacking ordered (LPSO) phases with a composition of Mg₁₀ZnY and an α-Mg matrix, along with net-shaped Mg₅(Y,Gd) eutectic compounds at the grain boundaries. Most of the eutectic compounds dissolved after the homogenization treatment. Moreover, the amount and dimensions of the lamellar-shaped LPSO phase obviously increased after the homogenization treatment. The structure of the phase transformed into 14H-type LPSO with composition Mg₁₂Zn(Y,Gd). The mechanical properties of the heat-treated large-sized alloy ingot are uniform. The ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and tensile yield strength (TYS) of the alloy reached 207.2 MPa and 134.8 MPa, respectively, and the elongation was 3.4%. The high performances of the large-sized alloy ingot after the homogenization treatment is attributed to the strengthening of the α-Mg solid solution and to the plentiful LPSO phase distributed over the α-Mg matrix.     

Mechanical properties of a Gum-type Ti-Nb-Zr-Fe-O alloy

A new Gum-type alloy (Ti-Nb-Zr-Fe-O) in which Fe is used instead of Ta was subjected to a particular thermomechanical processing scheme to assess whether its mechanical characteristics (fine β-grains with high strength and low modulus) render it suitable as a biomedical implant material. After a homogenization treatment followed by cold-rolling with 50% reduction, the specimens were subjected to one of three different recrystallization treatments at 1073, 1173, and 1273 K. The structural and mechanical properties of all of the treated specimens were analyzed. The mechanical characterization included tensile tests, microhardness determinations, and fractography by scanning electron microscopy. The possible deformation mechanisms were discussed using the Bo-Md diagram. By correlating all of the experimental results, we concluded that the most promising processing variant corresponds to recrystallization at 1073 K, which can provide suitable mechanical characteristics for this type of alloys:high yield and ultimate tensile strengths (1038 and 1083 MPa, respectively), a low modulus of elasticity (62 GPa), and fine crystalline grain size (approximately 50 μm).     

Recrystallization behavior of Ti40 burn-resistant titanium alloy during hot working process

The recrystallization behavior of deformed Ti40 alloy during a heat-treatment process was studied using electron backscatter diffraction and optical microscopy. The results show that the microstructural evolution of Ti40 alloy is controlled by the growth behavior of grain-boundary small grains during the heating process. These small grains at the grain boundaries mostly originate during the forging process because of the alloy’s inhomogeneous deformation. During forging, the deformation first occurs in the grain-boundary region. New small recrystallized grains are separated from the parent grains when the orientation between deformation zones and parent grains exceeds a certain threshold. During the heating process, the growth of these small recrystallized grains results in a uniform grain size and a decrease in the average grain size. The special recrystallization behavior of Ti40 alloy is mainly a consequence of the alloy’s high β-stabilized elemental content and high solution strength of the β-grains, which partially explains the poor hot working ability of Ti–V–Cr-type burn-resistant titanium alloys. Notably, this study on Ti40 burn-resistant titanium alloy yields important information related to the optimization of the microstructures and mechanical properties.     

Effects of aging on the microstructure of a Cu-Al-Ni-Mn shape memory alloy

The influence of aging on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Cu-11.6wt%Al-3.9wt%Ni-2.5wt%Mn shape memory alloy (SMA) was studied by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffractometer, and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). Experimental results show that bainite, γ_2, and α phase precipitates occur with the aging effect in the alloy. After aging at 300dgC, the bainitic precipitates appear at the early stages of aging, while the precipitates of γ₂ phase are observed for a longer aging time. When the aging temperature increases, the bainite gradually evolves into γ₂ phase and equilibrium α phase (bcc) precipitates from the remaining parent phase. Thus, the bainite, γ₂, and α phases appear, while the martensite phase disappears progressively in the alloy. The bainitic precipitates decrease the reverse transformation temperature while the γ₂ phase precipitates increase these temperatures with a decrease of solute content in the retained parent phase. On the other hand, these precipitations cause an increasing in hardness of the alloy.     

Effects of Sc and Zr microalloying on the microstructure and mechanical properties of high Cu content 7xxx Al alloy

The effects of Sc and Zr microalloying on the microstructure and mechanical properties of a 7 xxx Al alloy with high Cu content(7055) during casting, deformation, and heat treatment were investigated. The addition of Sc and Zr not only refined the grains but also transformed the θ-phase into the W-phase in the 7055 alloy. Minor Sc and Zr additions enhanced the hardness and yield strength of the 7055-T6 alloy by strengthening the grain boundaries and Al_3(Sc,Zr) precipitates. However, a further increase in the Sc and Zr fractions did not refine the grains but instead resulted in the formation of the large-sized W-phase and primary coarse Al_3(Sc,Zr) phase and subsequently deteriorated the mechanical properties of the alloys. The 7055 alloy with 0.25 Sc addition exhibited the best mechanical property among the prepared alloys.