Thermo Mechanical Working and Heat Treatment Studies on Meta-Stable Beta Titanium Alloy (Ti15V3Al3Sn3Cr) Plates

Abstract

The beta titanium alloys are highly cold workable in annealed condition, due to presence of single phase bcc structure (beta) at ambient temperature. The Ti15V3Al3Sn3Cr alloy is a metastable beta alloy retains single beta phase at ambient temperature by beta annealing. The beta alloys are most hardenable among titanium alloys, due to the formation of hard alpha (hcp) precipitates in beta (bcc) grains in solution treated and aged (STA) conditions. The present paper brings out the hot forging and rolling studies carried above beta transus temperature and correlating microstructure with mechanical properties in heat treated conditions (a. 800°C for 30 minutes and b. 800°C for 45 minutes, subsequent water quenched from single phase beta region plus aged at 482°C/538°C). The results conclude that solution treatment carried for 45 minutes and aged at 482°C/538°C achieved high tensile strength with improvement in ductility. This is due to less nucleation sites of alpha precipitates along the grain boundaries for the 45 minutes solution treated specimens. The Young’s modulus evaluated for solution treated (78GPa), aged at 482°C (105GPa) and 538°C (103GPa), the increase in aged conditions is due to the formation of alpha precipitates throughout the matrix and makes the alloy two phase alpha-beta system.Keywords: Metastable beta, alpha precipitates, solution treatment, tensile strength, Young’s modulus.