AbstractsEngineering

Microstructure and mechanical properties of new composite structured Ti-based alloys

by Ilya Okulov




Institution: Technische Universität Dresden
Department: Fakultät Maschinenwesen
Degree: PhD
Year: 2015
Record ID: 1112817
Full text PDF: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-qucosa-160897


Abstract

The demanding structural applications (e.g. aerospace, biomedical, etc.) require new materials with improved mechanical performance. The novel Ti-based dendrite + nano-/ultrafine-structured (Ti-based DNUS) composites exhibit an advantageous combination of high compressive strength (2000 – 2500 MPa) and large compressive ductility (10 – 30 %) already in the as-cast state [1,2] and, therefore, can be referred as high-performance materials. However, these Ti-based composites frequently exhibit very low or even lack of tensile ductility [3]. Therefore, the aim of this research work is to develop high strength Ti-based DNUS composites with pronounced tensile plasticity and to correlate the mechanical properties with their microstructure. In order to reach the goal, the high-strength Ti66Nb13Cu8Ni6.8Al6.2 (at.%) alloy exhibiting large compressive ductility [4] was selected for the modification. The microstructure of Ti66Nb13Cu8Ni6.8Al6.2 is composed of two metallographic constituents including β-Ti dendrites and an interdendritic component. The β-Ti dendrites are enriched in Nb and, therefore, Nb is referred as “dendritic element” whereas the interdendritic component is enriched in Ni and Cu and, therefore, these are referred as “interdendritic elements”. To perform a systematic study of the “interdendritic elements” (Ni, Cu and Co) effect on microstructure, a number of alloys with different concentration and types of alloying elements (Ti-Nb-Cu-Ni-Al, Ti-Nb-Co-Ni-Al, Ti-Nb-Cu-Co-Al and Ti-Nb-Ni(Co)-Al) were developed. It was shown that a higher concentration of the “interdendritic elements” in a composition within one alloy system corresponds to a higher volume fraction of the interdendritic component. Additionally, the crystal structure of the interdendritic phases is affected by type of the “interdendritic elements”. Since the most advanced applications (e.g. aerospace) require materials with high specific strengths, the new ductile Ti-Nb-Cu-Ni-Al alloys were modified to reduce their density, i.e. the Nb was substituted by lighter V. As a result, a new family of Ti-V-Cu-Ni-Al alloys with improved specific strength compared to the Ti-Nb-Cu-Ni-Al alloys was developed. Additionally, moduli of resilience of the Ti-V-Ni-Cu-Al alloys are superior when compared with those of the commercial Ti-based spring materials. The effect of microstructure on deformation of the newly developed alloys was studied through the in-situ microstructural analysis of samples at different strained states by means of scanning electron microscopy. To reveal the effect of the metallographic constituents on strength, the microhardness mapping of the new alloys was performed. Using the obtained empirical principles of microstructure adjustment, a new Ti68.8Nb13.6Co6Cu5.1Al6.5 (at.%) alloy with a large static toughness (superior to those of the recently developed Ti-based metallic glass composites) was developed. This large static toughness is due to both high strength and significant tensile plasticity. To study the effect of microstructure on…