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B-titanium alloys are increasingly The required high-level properties B-stabilizing elements and molybdenum
used thanks to their high mechanical depend on several strengthening mecha- for the A-stabilizing elements.1 In Figure
properties resulting from a clever choice nisms such as grain size, solid solution 1, some titanium alloys are classied fol-
of processing parameters. The effects of atoms, and precipitation hardening, lowing their aluminum-equivalent (Aleq)
heat-treatment conditions on the micro- which all can be tuned during the various and molybdenum-equivalent (Moeq) con-
structure of two recent B-metastable processing steps, leading to particular tents, bringing about the families near
titanium alloys are investigated in this microstructures. A deep understand- A (presenting a dominant A phase and a
study, along with the resulting mechani- ing of the phase transformations and lack of heat-treatment response), AB
cal properties. microstructural modications occurring (with the commonly used Ti-6Al-4V),
during processing are thus required to and B-metastable, the main topic of
INTRODUCTION
allow the improvement of the mechanical this study.
Titanium, although a trendy indica- performances.
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
tion of high-tech in consumer products,
BASIC CONCEPTS AND IN BETA-METASTABLE
remains much less used than other struc-
ALLOY CLASSIFICATION ALLOYS
tural materials due to difculties in the
extractive and forming processes. Only Pure titanium presents an allotropic As can be seen on the schematic phase
requirements for outstanding mechani- phase transformation at 882C between diagram of Figure 2, the B-metastable
cal properties can justify a growing use the body-centered cubic (bcc) and hex- alloys contain enough B-stabilizing
of titanium alloys in applications like agonal-close-packed structures stable at elements to prevent the B-phase decom-
the aerospace industry for which the high and low temperatures, respectively. position into Aa or Aaa martensite upon
low density of titanium is denitively The presence of alloying elements alters quenching (i.e., the metastable tempera-
a major advantage. Recent develop- the transformation temperature, bringing ture is lowered below room temperature).
ment programs such as Boeing 787 or about multiphase A
B alloys. Two fami- It is thus possible to retain the more
Airbus A380 planes conrm this steadily lies of alloying elements called B-stabi- ductile bcc phase in a metastable state
increasing use of titanium. Besides aero- lizing and A-stabilizing are usually for easy processing before developing a
space applications, a wider use in the considered, depending on their ability high-strength, closer-to-equilibrium AB
automotive industry was attempted with to lower or increase the transformation microstructure by subsequent aging. This
the low-cost Timetal-LCB (Ti-LCB) temperature. The effect of these elements combination of performance and fabri-
alloy, while the medical, chemical, and regarding the A
B transformation is com- cation advantages is responsible for the
sporting goods sectors account for the monly expressed with respect to refer- growing use of B-metastable alloys in a
diversication of titanium uses. ence elements, namely aluminum for the market still dominated by the common
Ti-6Al-4V.
The B m AB Phase
Transformation
Depending on the level of Moeq, aging
at a given temperature after quenching
from the B phase eld will lead to various
amounts of A precipitation. At relatively
high temperatures, A precipitates nucle-
ate heterogeneously at grain boundaries
Figure 1. The classication of some and other defects such as recovered
titanium alloys based on their
Mo eq and Al eq contents. 2 Mo eq = subgrain boundaries or dislocation cells,3
Mo+2V/3+Nb/3+3(Fe+Cr), Al eq = while a more homogeneous distribution
Al+Sn/3+Zr/6+10(02+N2+H2). of nuclei results from a lower-tem-
perature aging. In this latter case, the
Table I. Ti-LCB, developed by Timet in ing plates about 20 m long and 0.5 m
the 1990s, responded to high titanium to 1 m thick. At 500C, the B matrix is
alloy costs by using as the major alloying completely transformed into an entangle-
element the inexpensive Fe-Mo com- ment of residual B and ne A precipitates
pound widely used in the steel industry. homogeneously nucleated within the
Figure 2. A schematic pseudo-binary cut The more recent Ti-5553 alloy was whole grains.
of multielement titanium alloys.
designed based on the older Russian alloy The transmission-electron microscope
VT22 to primarily fulll high-strength (TEM) micrograph of Figure 4 shows that
precipitates are usually plate-shaped, forging applications. A lower-strength extreme renement of the A precipitation
with marked growth orientation prefer- state with improved toughness and occurs for aging below 400C. These
ences, bringing about basket-weave-type damage tolerance is under consideration A precipitates present an elongated
microstructures. Crystallographic orien- for other parts of aircraft structure.2
tation relationships of different kinds4 are As represented in Figure 1, the amount
observed between the A precipitates and of B-stabilizer elements in the two alloys
the B matrix, and a transformation path- is different, even though their respec-
way by lattice shearing and short-range tive metastable temperatures are below
atomic movement has been reported for room temperature. They are both more
the description of the transformation.5 B-stabilized than several aerospace alloys
The B-to-A transformation could thus in use, such as Ti-17 or B-CEZ. Further-
be considered as a displacive transfor- more, both are age-hardenable since the
mation, bearing in mind that a chemical fully B structure that can be retained on
composition change occurs with the quenching will decompose into an AB
long-range migration of intersititial and mixture during aging. The volume frac-
substitutional atoms, as in classical dif- tion, location, and morphology of the a 50 Mm
fusive transformations. decomposition products strongly inu-
ence the alloys mechanical properties.
The W phase
Morphologies of the A
Decomposition of the metastable B
Precipitates
phase usually leads to a lower-energy
AB mixture. However, at low tempera- The scanning-electron micrographs in
tures this decomposition becomes slug- Figure 3 present typical microstructures
gish, and other, metastable by-products obtained when aging the Ti-5553 alloy
can form. Depending on the degree for 3.6 ks at 800C, 700C, or 500C,
of stabilization of the parent B phase, respectively, after homogenization
these phases are either a non-compact above the B transus. By changing the
hexagonal or a trigonal phase called aging temperature, both the amount and b 50 Mm
W, or a solute-lean bcc phase called morphology of the A phase are modied.
Ba.1,6 The W phase can form unavoid- At 800C (i.e., 70C below the transus
ably by a displacive mechanism on temperature), the nucleation is scarce and
quenching (athermal W). Furthermore, the precipitates remain quite equiaxed.
the W precipitation can also be thermally Several pairs of precipitates growing
activated with a certain amount of diffu- side-by-side suggest some degree of
sion of atoms toward the B matrix taking cooperative nucleation of these A precipi-
place after an initial shearing step.6 This tates. At 700C, prior B grain boundaries
isothermal W is thought to be responsible are almost completely covered by an A
for a severe embrittlement.7 film (Figure 3mowensbyko b)
with many parallel plates growing toward c 5 Mm
TWO REPRESENTATIVE
the grain interior. Their size is limited
ALLOYS Figure 3. Scanning-electron micrographs
and they do not form the large colonies of solution-treated and aged Ti-5553 alloy
This study deals with two B-meta- encountered in common AB titanium for 3.6 ks at different aging temperatures:
stable alloys, Ti-LCB and Ti-5553. Their alloys. Intragranular precipitates are (a) 800C, (b) 700C, and (c) 500C.
chemical compositions are given in also present within the B matrix, form-
5 Bimodal aged B alloys. Indeed, it was shown1,15 vations are thus needed to enhance the
4.5 that the lack of ductility due to the ne strength-ductility balance. More work is
4 secondary A could be minimized thanks needed to describe accurately the phys-
3.5 As Quenched
to larger A grains while maintaining a ics of the onset of plastic deformation
3
0 200 400 600 800 relatively high strength. However, the within these samples. Critical informa-
Aging Temperature (C) results presented in Figure 8 do not show tion about the fracture mechanisms will
Figure 7.The microhardness of the Ti-5553 that the bimodal microstructure pres- be learned by the characterization of the
alloy aged at different aging temperatures. ents signicantly better properties than damaged zones in deformed specimens.
The as-quenched and bimodal A grain
states are also represented. single-aging-step specimens. Indeed, the In particular, the TEM characterization
bimodal microstructure sample presents of strained specimens will show the
1,600 12
a strength of 1,320 MPa, identical to effect of dislocation glide on the very
Elongation at Fracture (%)
1,400
10 the specimen aged at 600C. However, ne precipitates population.
Strength (MPa)
Bimodal 8
1,200 the fracture strain is much smaller for
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
6 this bimodal microstructure sample.
1,000
Bimodal 4 Other studies16 showed that increasing P.J. Jacques acknowledges the
800 2 the amount of primary A has a nega- National Fund for Scientic Research
0 tive impact on ductility. Nevertheless, in Belgium. The work of N. Clement was
600
400 200
600 800 1,000 bimodal microstructures are often pre- supported by the Walloon Region through
Aging Temperature (C)
ferred since they present smaller B grain the Winnomat Programme. The authors
Figure 8. The tensile properties of the Ti-
5553 alloy as a function of the aging sizes that result from a processing route would like to thank TIMET-Savoie for
temperature (circles are for strength, hollow below the B transus temperature.1 providing the material and Techspace
triangles for elongation to fracture). The Aero.
dotted curve corresponds to the evolution CONCLUSIONS
when brittle fracture occurs.
B-titanium alloys show great promise References
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2003).
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then continuously decreases for higher control allows the tailoring of these JMEPEG, 14 (2005), pp. 799811.
aging temperatures. For the samples mechanical properties. Indeed, these 3. N. Clement et al., Proc. Int. Conf. Solid-Solid Phase
Transformations in Inorganic Materials 2005, ed.
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alloy aged at lower temperatures. Among them, the Ti-5553 and Ti-LCB 6. S. Sikka, Y. Vohra, and R. Chidambaram, Prog.
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15. G. Terlinde, H.-J Rathjen, and K.-H. Schwalbe,
are created. Comparing Figures 7 and 8 extra freedom to the scientist or engineer, Metall.Trans. A, 19A (1988), pp. 10371049
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considered in the case of a nanometric bring about microstructural instabilities
A phase appearing for low-temperature that are deleterious to the improvement N. Clment, A. Lenain, and P.J. Jacques are with
Universit Catholique de Louvain, Dpartement
aging treatments (i.e., aged at 300C, of the mechanical properties. des sciences des matriaux et des procds, IMAP,
see Figure 4) that presents a brittle Strengthening mechanisms in B-meta- Place Sainte Barbe 2, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve,
tensile fracture and a lower hardness. stable alloys rely mainly on the A phase Belgium. A. Lenain is also with Techspace Aero,
Herstal, Belgium. For more information contact
However, since cracking occurs before precipitation. While the A precipitation P.J. Jacques (32) 10-47-24-32; fax (32) 10-47-40-28;
macroscopic yielding, the exact fracture can provide high strength, the price to e-mail Jacques@imap.ucl.ac.be.