Influence of Multiaxial Cryoforging on Microstructural, Mechanical, and Corrosion Properties of Copper-Titanium Alloy

Abstract

Multiaxial forging (MAF) was used to process Cu-4.5%Ti (wt.%) alloy at cryogenic temperature up to three cycles with a cumulative strain of 1.64. Microstructures, mechanical, and corrosion properties of as-received and deformed samples were analyzed. Microstructural analysis showed that average grain size decreased from 70 m to 200 nm, and electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) analysis revealed the transformation of high-angle grain boundaries (HAGBs) to low-angle grain boundaries (LAGBs). Variations in intensity of peaks were observed by x-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. Microstructural investigation showed elongated grains with shear bands having width ~ 200 nm for 3-cycle sample. Tensile testing and micro-hardness tests showed improvements in ultimate tensile strength (UTS), yield strength (YS), and micro-hardness, with the increase in MAF cycles. Ultimate tensile strength and hardness increased from 605 MPa and 252 HV (for as-received) to 1284 MPa and 428 HV for three cycles of MAF-processed sample, respectively. Improvement in strength and hardness was attributed to refined grain structure. Corrosion study was carried out for different cycles of MAF-processed samples using potentiodynamic polarization, and corroded surfaces were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis. 2019, ASM International.