Effect of oxygen on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Ti-23Nb-0.7Ta-2Zr alloy

The influence of oxygen content on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Ti-23Nb-0.7Ta-2Zr (at%) alloy in as-cast and cold-rolled states was investigated systematically in this paper. It is found that the alloy containing oxygen element is only composed of a single ?? phase, while the alloy without oxygen element consisted of ?? and ???? phases. Although the grain size becomes larger, the elastic deformation ratio, strength, and hardness of the alloy are all increased with an increase of oxygen content. The as-cast alloy has excellent plastic deformation ability, but the cold-rolled alloy containing oxygen element exhibits brittle characteristics. A conclusion can be drawn that oxygen element can stabilize ?? phase, inhibit the phase transformation from ?? to ????, and furthermore help to increase the strength and elastic deformation ability of the alloy.