❖ Titanium Alloys

➢ General characteristics: Weight saving, high fatigue point, high temperature

resistance, high corrosion resistance and space savings.
➢ Alpha HCP → Before beta transus (882 °C) → Beta BCC

➢
➢ Classification: Alpha, Beta, Near alpha (small amount of beta), Alfa-beta.
➢ Interstitial O and N can be absorbed at 700°C, complicating the processing and
causing embrittlement (low ductility and fracture toughness).
➢ If a-b or b alloys are solution heat treated and aged, martensite can form when
quenching.
➢ Grain size doesn’t affect UTS. Finer increases yield strength, ductility, and
fatigue strength; larger increases creep resistance.
➢ Fast cooling rate: Fine microstructure; slow: coarse.
➢ Commercially Pure Titanium (CP)
▪ Good formability, weldable and excellent corrosion resistant.
▪ Annealed, which allows forming at room temperature.
▪ Properties can be degraded after severe forming.
▪ Tubing, tanks, fittings in chemical industry.

▪
➢ Alpha and Near-Alpha
▪ 5-6% aluminum as main alloying element. (Neutral Sn/Zr and some beta
stabilizers)
▪ Al increases corrosion resistance, strength and reduces density.
▪ Cannot be heat treated.
▪ Medium formability, weldable, medium strength, good notch toughness
and creep resistance (315 – 593 °C).
▪ Cryogenic apps.

➢ Alpha-Beta
▪ Heat treatable and moderate strength.
▪ Strengthened by STA.
▪ Poor weldability and increased hardenability.

➢ Beta
▪ Heat treatable, higher ductility when annealed, great formability.
▪ STA to higher strength.
▪ Good weldability, high fracture toughness and good fatigue crack growth
rate.
▪ Increased densities (Mo, V and Nb), reducing ductility.

▪
➢ Obtained in Kroll process (Mg) or Hunter process (Na). In Kroll process:

➢ Vacuum Arc Remelting: Electrode blends sponge particles and welds them to
form the electrode. Molten material is on a water-cooled cooper crucible,
being the cathode.
➢ Cold Hearth Melting: Plasma or electron beam melts material by balancing the
heat loss caused by water cooling in order to create an ingot. Reduces alloy
segregation.
➢ Ingot defects:
▪ Low Density Inclusion: Hard-alpha inclusions. Interstitial. Due to high
concentrations of N.
▪ High Density Inclusion: Contamination during electrode preparation
process. Leads fatigue cracking.
▪ Beta Flecks: Caused by solute segregation. Lower alpha concentration.
Cause early crack initiation.
➢ Primary Fabrication: Mill forming billet, bar, plate, sheet, strip, foil, extrusion,
wire, and tubing. Hot working to refine microstructure.
➢ In cast titanium ingots, cogging (open die forging) is done by deforming the
ingot slowly to avoid cracking. Working on beta transus → Eliminate grain
boundary alpha → Working on alpha-beta field → Fast cooling → High ductility
and fatigue strength.
➢ Equiaxed Structure: Too worked to breakup lamellar → Annealed →
Recrystallization into equiaxed. Equiaxed structures are a function of the
previous variables and time and temperature.
➢ Billets and bars: Annealed, straightened, and grinded in case of surface
defects. Ultrasonically inspected.
➢ Plates or sheets: Hot rolled in mills. Annealing, descaling, straightening,
grinding, pickling and ultrasonic inspection.
➢ Titanium has high reactivity in castings. Process commonly done with Ti-6Al-4V
(90%) and CP-Ti (10%). Due to slow cooling rate, these castings are heat
treated to refine the microstructure.
❖ Superalloys
➢ High strength, good fatigue and creep resistance, good corrosion resistance,
operational at elevated Temps. For extended periods of time.
➢ Nickel: FFC at room temp (RT), 8.9 g/cm3, fusion temp: 1454°C
➢ Iron: BCC at RT, highly alloyed that they have austenitic FCC at RT.
➢ Cobalt: HCP at RT, highly alloyed that they have austenitic FCC at RT.
➢ Precipitate gamma’ is homogeneous with a low surface energy, getting
extraordinary long-term stability.
➢ Carbides:
▪ Strengthen grain boundaries.
▪ Fine distribution within the grains increases strength.
▪ Tie-up elements to not generate instability during service.
▪ Since they are harder and brittle, affect high temperature strength, ductility,
and creep performance on Ni-based alloys.
➢ Ni-Based:
▪ Used in hottest parts of aircraft engines.
▪ Solid solution hardening: Lower temp use.
▪ Precipitation hardening: Higher temp use.
▪ 50% Ni, 10-20% Cr, 8% Al and Ti, 5-158% Co, and other elements.
➢ Fe-Ni Based:
▪ 25% Ni requires to stabilize the FCC austenitic matrix.
▪ 25-45% Ni, 15-60% Fe, 15-28% Cr, 1-6% Mb → Solid Solution
Strengthening.
▪ Ti, Al and Nb → Precipitation Hardening.
➢ Co Based:
▪ Ni stabilizes the FCC austenitic structure for its use at RT.
▪ 50-60% Co, 20-30% Cr, 5-10% W and 0.1-1% C.
▪ Wrought alloys: 40% Co and ~20% Ni for increased workability.
▪ Strength increase rely on solid solution and carbide strengthening.
▪ Good stress rupture properties and superior hot corrosion resistance at
high temperature due to chromium.
➢ In Vacuum Induction Melting, liquid metal is processed in an induction heated
crucible. Includes pure elements, master alloys and scrap. Reduces O, N, H
and increase Al and Ti reactive strengthening.
➢ VIM-ESR-VAR produces large ingots for forging stock.
▪ ESR: Produces cleaner metal.
▪ VAR: Produces larger ingots.
➢ Cast ingots refining: Cogging → Uniform deformation along a billet → Lower
Temperatures → Microstructural refinement.
➢ The previous process improves fatigue life, lower flow stress and ease to be
ultrasonically inspected.
➢ Investment Casting Process

➢
➢ Directionally solidified structures (DS), have parallel or oriented
microstructures in one direction that prevents thermal fatigue failure.
➢ Single Crystal (SX): No grain boundaries, high temperature creep performance.