Hot Deformation and Constitutive Modeling of TC21 Titanium Alloy

Abstract

Titanium alloys are extensively employed in the fabrication of various aviation structural parts, of which the most crucial processing step is hot working. In order to study the high-temperature deformation behavior of the TC21 titanium alloy, high-temperature tensile tests were performed. The results reveal that the flow stress of the material gradually decreases with an increased strain rate, and the stress increases rapidly with an increase in strain during the deformation of the alloy. Following this, flow stress gradually decreases. Flow stress decreases sharply, and the sample fractures when the appearance of necking and microvoids is observed. The Arrhenius and Radial basis function (RBF) neural network constitutive models are established in order to accurately describe the high-temperature deformation behavior of the material. In the modified Arrhenius model, strain rate indexes are expressed as a function of deformation temperature and strain rates; furthermore, the high prediction ability of the model was obtained. For the Radial basis function, the network parameters were obtained using the trial-and-error method. The established models could better forecast the flow stress of materials, and highly accurate results are obtained using the radial basis function model. The relationships between the stress index and the deformation activation energy with strain indicate that the primary deformation mechanism involves grain boundary slip and viscous slip of dislocations. The process of dynamic recrystallization primarily promotes the softening of the material.