Effect of Electric Current Heat Treatment on Commercially Pure Titanium Sheets

Abstract

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.