Search

This study aimed to develop heterogeneous-structured (HS) Ti-6Al-4V composed of coarse and fine grains to enhance the alloy's mechanical properties. This microstructure was induced by selective activation of dynamic globularization by using water-quenching and subsequent rolling below the β-transus temperature. Microstructures and mechanical properties of the HS alloy in monotonic and cyclic deformation modes were compared with those of coarse-grained (CG) and ultrafine-grained (UFG) counterparts. HS Ti-6Al-4V had a higher mechanical strength and better resistance to low-cycle fatigue (LCF) fracture without the loss of ductility compared with commercial mill-annealed CG alloy, and HS alloy had an engineering advantage of low-cost mass production in contrast to UFG counterpart, despite their similar mechanical properties under both monotonic and cyclic deformations. The enhanced mechanical properties of HS alloy were attributed to the presence of UFG region and the partial transformation of transverse to basal texture with a high intensity. Such conditions gave rise to an active slip transfer, low internal stress, and high strain compatibility, thereby leading to the high LCF resistance.

Step rolling can be used to mass-produce ultrafine-grained (UFG) Ti-6Al-4V sheets. This study clarified the effect of subsequent annealing on the tensile properties of step-rolled Ti-6Al-4V at room temperature (RT) and elevated temperature. The step-rolled alloy retained its UFG structure after subsequent annealing at 500–600 °C. The RT ductility of the step-rolled alloy increased regardless of annealing temperature, but strengthening was only attained by annealing at 500 °C. In contrast, subsequent annealing rarely improved the elevated-temperature tensile properties. The step-rolled Ti-6Al-4V alloy without the annealing showed the highest elongation to failure of 960% at 700 °C and a strain rate of 10−3 s−1. The ambivalent effect of annealing on RT and elevated-temperature tensile properties is a result of microstructural features, such as dislocation tangles, subgrains, phases, and continuous dynamic recrystallization.

Ti-6Al-4V alloy has limitations in terms of globularization when using additive manufacturing (AM), which requires a final forging step. To optimize this approach, this study investigated the effect of processing variables on the dynamic/static globularization of AM-processed Ti-6Al-4V alloy. Eight double-cone specimens were prepared with different processing variables such as effective strain, solution treatment, hot-forging temperature, and subsequent annealing. Microstructural evolutions were quantitatively characterized to interpret the kinetics of globularization based on the aforementioned variables. In particular, the combination of solution treatment, low-temperature (1073 K) forging, and subsequent annealing significantly accelerated the overall globularization. Such an accelerating effect stemmed from the reduced path for boundary splitting in fine α′ martensitic laths, which was induced via solution treatment. This accelerating effect disappeared at a high temperature (1223 K), which implies the necessity of optimizing the thermomechanical route to exploit martensitic laths.

Commercially pure titanium (CP-Ti) has seen major applications in biomedical equipment. The use of selective laser melting (SLM) has become more common concerning the fabrication of CP-Ti components with a complicated shape in biomedical implants, where high strength and ductility are required. However, SLM manufactured CP-Ti often exhibits high strength and low ductility, as well as mechanical anisotropy because SLM process typically results in the formation of long columnar grains comprising of fine acicular α′ martensite. Heat treatment must be preceded to transform the acicular α′ to equiaxed α grain. This study demonstrated that annealing at 650 °C of SLM CP-Ti can create an equiaxed structure, resulting in a weakened texture. The formation of equiaxed grains occurred at two types of microstructural features, acicular α′ and irregular massive (α′m) martensite, which exhibited different sizes, morphologies, and contained different types of substructures under SLM as-fabricated condition. The formation mechanism of equiaxed grains in the α′ region is dominated by the coalescence of acicular α′ of the same variant and the dissolution of α′ into the matrix, whereas the formation mechanism in the α′m region is primarily dominated by the growth of the preexisting subgrains. A small number of equiaxed grains with new orientations were formed in the α′m region. The majority of equiaxed grains were formed in the acicular α′ region and inherited the grain orientations of the preexisting α′ or matrix. Therefore, a similar but weakened texture was inherited from the microstructure of the SLM CP-Ti after annealing.

From the point of view of designing materials, it is important to study the complex correlational research that involves measuring several variables and assessing the relation among them. Hence, the notion of machine-oriented data modeling is explored. Among various machine-learning tools, artificial neural networks (ANN) have been used as a stimulating tool to solve engineering-related issues. In this study, the ANN model is designed and trained to correlate the complex relations among composition, temperature and mechanical properties of 25Cr-20Ni-0.4C austenitic stainless steel. The developed model was exploited to estimate the composition−property and temperature−property correlations. The ANN predictions are well suitable for experimental results. The model was able to correlate the complex nature among input and output variables. The model was used to investigate the effect of service temperature on the mechanical properties of 25Cr-20Ni-0.4C steels over a wide temperature range. The effective response of the alloying elements on the mechanical properties of ambient as well as elevated temperatures was quantitatively estimated with the help of the index of relative importance (IRI) method. Hence, this handy technique is the best tool to overcome the designing complications and to develop the components having remarkable properties.

Microstructure evolution of Ti-6Al-4V alloy during hot backward extrusion process was simulated with the combined approaches of finite element method (FEM) and microstructure prediction model. From experimental analysis, it can be found that the change of microstructure during hot forming process of titanium alloy has a close relation to α/β phase transformation and grain growth behaviour. A microstructure prediction model was established by considering the change of volume fractions and grain size of both phases varying with process variables and then implemented into the user-defined subroutine of FEM analysis. In order to demonstrate the reliability of the model, the volume fraction and grain size of primary α phase during the hot backward extrusion process of Ti-6Al-4V alloy were simulated. The simulation results were compared with the experimental ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hot workability of Ti-6Al-4V alloy with different initial microstructures was investigated by considering processing maps and the dynamic material deformation behavior. The emphasis has been focused on the effect of initial microstructure (equiaxed versus bimodal structure). Process maps were generated using the dynamic material model (DMM), unifying the relationships between constitutive deformation behavior, hot workability and microstructures evolution. Also, the flow instability was investigated using the various flow instability criteria and microstructural analysis. To establish the processing maps with different initial microstructures, high temperature compression tests were carried out at various temperatures and strain rates up to a true strain of 0.7. Microstructural changes occurring during the deformation were analyzed in terms of high temperature deformation mechanisms. Finally the useful instability criterion for predicting the forming defects was suggested through the compression test results with different temperatures and strain rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wire and arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) technique has introduced a novel approach for producing complex Ti–6Al–4V parts with metric dimensions. However, the produced part leads to the development of a strong texture and anisotropic mechanical properties due to the formation of large columnar β grains. To resolve this issue, the plastic deformation of each deposited track through hammer peening was developed as a means to refine these large β grains. In this study, we have investigated an innovative approach to further enhance the efficiency of β grain refinement by minimizing the arc heat input associated with previous deposited layer, which is achieved by employing a C-type filler wire. Our findings reveal a notable enhancement in grain refinement efficiency through the utilization of a C-type filler wire with peening process, as compared to available conventional commercial round shape filler wire. Specifically, the employment of the C-type filler wire results in a reduced melt pool penetration depth of WAAM Ti–6Al–4V (3.3 mm), compared to the commercially available round shape (R-Type) filler wire (4.48 mm). Within the plastically deformed region by peening, fine and randomly oriented β grains are observed, extending to a depth of deformation reaching 844 ± 32.65 μm. Peening WAAM Ti–6Al–4V with the C-type filler wire leads to the development of isotropic mechanical properties in both horizontal and vertical directions, offering high strength due to the presence of small equiaxed β grains and thin α laths (0.56 ± 0.18 μm), in contrast to the use of conventional commercial round shape filler wire.

Commercially pure Ti (CP Ti) exhibits an exceptional corrosion resistance, and it is thus critical in the aerospace, marine, and petrochemical fields. However, pure Ti also displays a modest strength and limited wear resistance. Therefore, several studies have explored the incorporation of reinforcing phases, such as ceramics and carbides, leading to the development of metal matrix composites. This study investigates the fabrication of CP Ti-WC composites using an additive manufacturing process and explores the effect of the WC content on the microstructure, mechanical properties, and corrosion resistance. Regarding the mechanical properties, the tensile strength and hardness progressively increase with increasing WC content owing to microstructural refinement and solid solution strengthening caused by W. The alloy containing 5 wt% WC displays the respective maximum strength and hardness of 1042 MPa and 362.2 HV. Furthermore, WC addition enhances the corrosion resistance of CP Ti in a 70 % H2SO4 solution. Compared to those of the other samples, the alloy with 5 wt% WC exhibits the lowest mass loss (0.00242 mg/cm2) and current density in the passivation region, which are attributed to the microstructural refinement aiding in the formation of a stable oxide layer. Thus, this research highlights the potential of CP Ti-WC composites, which exhibit improved mechanical performances and corrosion resistances for use in demanding applications, with insights into microstructural control and property enhancement.

The mechanical properties of commercially pure titanium can further be improved through the grain refinement processes; however, welding fine-grained materials is challenging due to the grain coarsening in the weld area and hence the weakening of the mechanical properties locally. Meanwhile, friction stir welding is a promising process in which the metallurgical bonding is established through the solid-state mechanical mixing of materials to be welded; no studies have reported friction stir welding of the ultra-fine-grained commercial purity titanium to date. In this research, friction stir welding of fine-grained and ultra-fine-grained commercially pure titanium (1.58 and 0.66 μm, respectively) was conducted. The effect of the microstructural feature of base metals on the microstructural evolution of the stir zone and the feasibility of the friction stir welding process for those materials were discussed. It was found that the fraction of twin boundaries in ultra-fine-grained material was higher than in fine-grained material. It accelerated dynamic recrystallization and recovery in the stir zone, hence inducing the grain coarsening and the loss of ultra-fine-grained structure and character after welding.

Rapid electric current heat treatment has been successfully applied to a cold-rolled sheet of commercially pure titanium (CP Ti). The electric current heat treatment was conducted at various temperatures (400, 500, 600 and 700 °C) by altering the current density (A/mm2). The detailed microstructure and texture evolution was studied using electron backscatter and X-ray diffraction analysis. For comparison, conventional heat treatment at 400, 500 and 600 °C were also applied to the cold-rolled sheets. The electrically heat-treated sample showed a much smaller and uniform grain size with a relatively weak texture than the conventionally heat-treated one. As a result, the electrically heat-treated samples exhibited better tensile properties than conventionally heat-treated samples. Furthermore, the electric current treatment produced minimum sheet distortion and good oxidation resistance compared with the conventional heat treatment.

Ti–6Al–4V alloy is a typical 3D printing metal, and its application has been expanded to various fields owing to its excellent characteristics such as high specific strength, high corrosion resistance, and biocompatibility. In particular, direct energy deposition (DED) has been actively explored in the fields of deposition and the repair of large titanium parts. However, owing to the complicated thermal history of the DED process, the microstructures of the fusion zone (FZ), heat-affected zone (HAZ), and base metal (BM) are different, which results in variations of their mechanical characteristics. Therefore, the process reliability needs to be optimized. In this study, the microstructure and hardness of each region were investigated with respect to various DED process parameters. An artificial neural network (ANN) model was used to correlate the measured characteristics of the FZ, HAZ, and BM of Ti–6Al–4V components with the process parameters. The variation in the mechanical characteristics between the FZ, HAZ, and BM was minimized through post-heat treatment. Heat treatment carried out at 950 °C for 1 h revealed that the microstructure and hardness values throughout the component were homogeneous.

Designing a piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH) with high power density and high fatigue resistance is essential for the successful replacement of the currently using batteries in structural health monitoring (SHM) systems. Among the various designs, the PEH comprising of a cantilever structure as a passive layer and piezoelectric single crystal-based fiber composites (SFC) as an active layer showed excellent performance due to its high electromechanical properties and dynamic flexibilities that are suitable for low frequency vibrations. In the present study, an effort was made to investigate the reliable performance of hard and soft SFC based PEHs. The base acceleration of both PEHs is held at 7 m/s2 and the frequency of excitation is tuned to their resonant frequency (fr) and then the output power (Prms) is monitored for 107 fatigue cycles. The effect of fatigue cycles on the output voltage, vibration displacement, dielectric, and ferroelectric properties of PEHs was analyzed. It was noticed that fatigue-induced performance degradation is more prominent in soft SFC-based PEH (SS-PEH) than in hard SFC-based PEH (HS-PEH). The HS-PEH showed a slight degradation in the output power due to a shift in fr, however, no degradation in the maximum power was noticed, in fact, dielectric and ferroelectric properties were improved even after 107 vibration cycles. In this context, the present study provides a pathway to consider the fatigue life of piezoelectric material for the designing of PEH to be used at resonant conditions for long-term operation.