Mechanistic basis of oxygen sensitivity in titanium

One of the most potent examples of interstitial solute strengthening in metal alloys is the extreme sensitivity of titanium to small amounts of oxygen. Unfortunately, these small amounts of oxygen also lead to a markedly decreased ductility, which in turn drives the increased cost to purify titanium to avoid this oxygen poisoning effect. Here, we report a systematic study on the oxygen sensitivity of titanium that provides a clear mechanistic view of how oxygen impurities affect the mechanical properties of titanium. The increased slip planarity of Ti-O alloys is caused by an interstitial shuffling mechanism, which is sensitive to temperature, strain rate, and oxygen content and leads to the subsequent alteration of deformation twinning behavior. The insights from our experimental and computational work provide a rationale for the design of titanium alloys with increased tolerance to variations in interstitial content, with notable implications for more widespread use of titanium alloys.

Application of the Taylor Equation to Five-Power-Law Creep Considering the Influence of Solutes

This study determines the feasibility of describing the flow stress within the five-power-law creep regime, using a linear superposition of a dislocation hardening term and a significant solute strengthening term. It is assumed that the solutes are randomly distributed. It was found that by using an energy balance approach, the flow stress at high temperatures can be well-described by the classic Taylor equation with a solute strengthening term, τo, that is added to the αMGbρ1/2 dislocation hardening term.