An experimental study of deformation mechanism and microstructure evolution during hot deformation of Ti-6Al-2Zr-1Mo-1V alloy

Isothermal tensile tests have been performed to study the deformation mechanisms and microstructure evolution of Ti-6Al-2Zr-1Mo-1V titanium alloy in the temperature range 750-850 degrees C and strain rate range 0.001-0.1 s(-1). The deformation activations have been calculated based on kinetics rate equation to investigate the hot deformation mechanism. Microstructures of deformed samples have been analyzed by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) to evaluate the influences of hot deformation parameters on the microstructure evolution and recrystallization mechanism. The results indicate that deformation mechanisms vary with deformation conditions: at medium (800 degrees C) and high (850 degrees C) temperature, the deformation is mainly controlled by the mechanisms of dislocation creep and self-diffusion, respectively. The microstructure globularization mechanisms also depend on deformation temperature: in the temperature range from 750 to 800 degrees C, the high angle grain boundaries are mainly formed via dislocation accumulation or subgrain boundaries sliding and subgrains rotation; while at high temperature of 850 degrees C, recrystallization is the dominant mechanism. Especially, the evolution of the recrystallization mechanism with the deformation temperature is first observed and investigated in TA15 titanium alloy. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.