Microstructures and mechanical deformation behaviors of ultrafine-grained commercial pure (grade 3) Ti processed by two-step severe plastic deformation

Ultrafine-grained (UFG) commercial pure (CP, grade 3) Ti was produced using two-step severe plastic deformation, eight passes equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE) and cold rolling (CR) at liquid nitrogen temperature (LNT). Microstructural evolution and mechanical behaviors of UFG CP-Ti have been systematically investigated. After eight passes ECAE, the grain size was refined to sub-micron scale, smaller than 0.5 mu m. Subsequent CR at LNT or RT for both UFG and coarse-grained (CG) specimens led to further refinement of structure, dramatically intensifying (0002) peak, and the preferred orientation along the (0002) crystal plane is formed at the expense of other crystal plane. After eight passes ECAE and CR at LNT, the ultimate tensile strength of UFG CP-Ti (grade 3) is 1218 MPa, and an elongation of 12.6%. Strain hardening behaviors of UFG CP-Ti (grade 3) during tensile deformation at RT have been analyzed. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.