Influence of heat treatment processes on microstructure evolution, tensile and tribological properties of Ti6Al4V alloy

Ramadan N Elshaer; Shimaa El-Hadad; Adel Nofal

doi:10.1038/s41598-023-38250-2

Influence of heat treatment processes on microstructure evolution, tensile and tribological properties of Ti6Al4V alloy

Sci Rep. 2023 Jul 12;13(1):11292. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-38250-2.

Authors

Ramadan N Elshaer¹, Shimaa El-Hadad², Adel Nofal²

Affiliations

¹ Tabbin Institute for Metallurgical Studies, Cairo, Egypt. ramadan_elshaer@yahoo.com.
² Central Metallurgical Research and Development Institute, Box 87, Helwan, Egypt.

Abstract

The influence of heat treatment processes on microstructure, tensile and tribological properties of Ti6Al4V alloy was investigated. The specimens were heated for 30 min at 925 °C and then cooled at various rates by water quenching, air cooling, and furnace cooling. After that, the samples were aged for four hours at 600 °C. Three phases make up the microstructure: primary α-phase (α_p), secondary α-phase (α_s), and retained β-phase (β_r). Cooling in the air and water followed by aging (AC + Aging and WQ + Aging) resulted, α_s-phase precipitating inside β_r-phase. The highest hardness of 35 HRC was recorded for WQ + Aging specimen due to existence of a high amount of β_r-phase and precipitation of α_s-phase. On the other hand, the lowest hardness of 26 HRC was obtained for the FC specimen. AC specimen achieved the highest elongation value of 14%. However, WQ + Aging specimen exhibited the highest ultimate tensile strength of 1028 MPa. For WQ + Aging and AC + Aging specimens, the ideal balance of strength and elongation was discovered. The wear resistance of solution-treated specimens was significantly improved by the aging process and 125% improvement could be achieved in WQ compared to WQ + Aging specimens.