Crystal orientation and morphology of α lamellae in wrought titanium alloys: On the role of microstructure evolution in β processing

To obtain high-quality aviation forgings of titanium alloys, β forging is an essential processing step which must be considered throughout a production process. In this work, the effect of β forging on the crystal orientation and morphology of lamellar α was experimentally investigated in a two-phase titanium alloy. Strong dynamic recovery during β working resulted in the formation of low-angle grain boundary (LAGB_β) inside β grains. The lamellar α can penetrate through the LAGB_β, leading to similar intra α LAGBs on subgrain boundaries. Deformation banding occurs at high strain rates, and both diffusive and sharp boundaries of deformation bands can be observed. A continuous change of the β orientation in diffusive boundaries results in the formation of fine and disordered α lamellae without intra-lamellar boundary to hold the Burgers orientation relationship (OR). On sharp boundaries, it is prone to producing continuous grain boundary α (α_GB) with a highly similar orientation along the boundaries. Meanwhile, there may exist several lower-angle boundaries within the grain boundary α for a smoother orientation change on the β grain boundary.