Hierarchical structure and deformation behavior of a novel multicomponent β titanium alloy with ultrahigh strength

Based on the general [Mo] equivalent criterion and d-electron orbital theory, a new ultrahigh-strength βtitanium alloy with eight major elements(Ti-4.5Al-6.5Mo-2Cr-2.6Nb-2Zr-2Sn-1V, TB17) for industrial applications was developed. An ingot of five tons was successfully melted by thrice vacuum consumable arc melting. The microstructure and elements partitioning of different conditions were investigated systematically. The results suggest that the hierarchical structures of micro-scale first α phase(αf), nano-scale secondary α phase(αs), and ultrafine FCC substructures can be tailored by solution plus aging(STA) heat treatment. The lateral and epitaxial growth of αfphase promotes the HCP-α to FCC substructure transformation with the help of elements partitioning during the aging process. Moreover, the element V, generally regarded as β stabilizer, is found to mainly concentrate in the Al-rich αfphase in this study probably due to its relatively lower content and the strong bonding energy of Al-V. The hierarchical structure has a strong interaction with dislocations, which contributes to achieve a superhigh strength of 1376 MPa.In addition, the plastic strain is partitioned in the multi-scale precipitates(such as the α and FCC substructures) and β matrix, resulting in a considerable plasticity. TEM observation demonstrates that high density entangled dislocations at interfaces and mechanical twins exist in the STA sample after tensile test. It can be deduced that both dislocation slipping and twinning mechanisms are present in this alloy.Therefore, TB17 alloy can serve as an excellent candidate for structural materials on aircrafts that require high strength and lightweight.

Designing metallic glasses with optimal combinations of glass-forming ability and mechanical properties

It is a long-standing challenge to search for metallic glasses(MGs)with optimal combinations of glassforming ability(GFA),strength and toughness in the vast compositional space.By taking into account both recently developed ellipse criterion and temperature-based GFA criterion,here we established quantitative correlations among compositions,elastic constants,GFA and mechanical properties of MGs,which enable to predict the GFA,fracture strength and fracture surface simultaneously in advance once the compositions of MGs are determined.Experimental data confirm the validity of this approach in prediction.Finally,a strategy for designing MGs with optimal combinations of strength,toughness and GFA is proposed,which allows for high-throughput discovering glass formers with excellent mechanical properties.