Effect of Electric Current Heat Treatment on Commercially Pure Titanium Sheets

Rapid electric current heat treatment has been successfully applied to a cold-rolled sheet of commercially pure titanium (CP Ti). The electric current heat treatment was conducted at various temperatures (400, 500, 600 and 700 degrees C) by altering the current density (A/mm(2)). The detailed microstructure and texture evolution was studied using electron backscatter and X-ray diffraction analysis. For comparison, conventional heat treatment at 400, 500 and 600 degrees C were also applied to the cold-rolled sheets. The electrically heat-treated sample showed a much smaller and uniform grain size with a relatively weak texture than the conventionally heat-treated one. As a result, the electrically heat-treated samples exhibited better tensile properties than conventionally heat-treated samples. Furthermore, the electric current treatment produced minimum sheet distortion and good oxidation resistance compared with the conventional heat treatment.