Abstract
The pure Ti with different initial grain sizes which was annealed at 923 and 1023 K for 1 h was processed by ECAP at room temperature. The influence of initial grain size on microstructure and properties of ECAPed pure Ti was investigated by TEM, EBSD, tensile tests and microhardness tests at room temperature. The twinning behavior and deformation mechanism of pure Ti were also discussed during the ECAP. The results show that the initial grain size of pure Ti increases with increasing the annealing temperature. The grain refinement effect of pure Ti annealed at 1023 K is more significant than that of pure Ti annealed at 923 K after 1 pass of ECAP, while the microstructure of pure Ti annealed at 923 K is finer and more uniform than that of pure Ti annealed at 1023 K after 4 passes of ECAP. With the increase of ECAP pass, the yield stress increases, especially after 1 pass with more than 100% implication. The larger the initial grain size, the greater the stress increase. The deformation mechanisms of pure Ti during the ECAP include dislocation slips and deformation twinning, and with the increase of the initial grain size, the number of twins increases.
Science Press
With excellent biocompatibility and outstanding mechanical properties such as decent ductility, fatigue and corrosion resistance, Ti has great potential in aerospace, automotive and medical implantation applications. In addition, limited strength and poor workability restrict its widely application because of its hexagonal close-packed (hcp) crystal structure possessing low crystallographic symmetry. Equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) is a kind of severe plastic deformation (SPD) method which can refine grain size of metallic materials effectively and obtain bulk ultrafine grained (UFG) materials by approximate pure shear deformatio
It is well known that the grain size plays a predominant role in the mechanical properties of metal materials, which is fitted by the Hall-Petch equation.
σy=σ0+ky | (1) |
where σy is the yield stress, σ0 is a lattice friction stress, ky is the strengthening coefficient and d is the average grain size. However, a recent report on the ultrafine-grained pure Mg showed negative deviations from the Hall-Petch equation when the grain size is smaller than 4 μm, and inverse Hall-Petch effect when the grain size is smaller than 1 μ
The aim of the present work is to study the effect of the initial grain size on the microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of pure Ti processed by multi-pass ECAP. The pure Ti with different initial grain sizes was obtained through two different annealing temperatures, then comprehensive microstructure observation and mechanical property tests were carried out, and the twinning behavior and deformation mechanism in this process were discussed.
A hot rolled pure Ti (TA1) bar with a composition (wt%) of O 0.18, H 0.015, N 0.03, C 0.08 and Fe 0.2, and the balance Ti, was used in this study. To obtain pure Ti with different initial grain sizes, the cylindrical samples with 25 mm in diameter and 200 mm in length were annealed at 923 and 1023 K for 1 h. The annealed samples with different initial grain sizes were processed by 4 passes of ECAP at room temperature. The ECAP was performed at the ram speed of 2.5 mm/s via route C, which requires the sample to rotate 180° around its longitudinal axis between adjacent passes. The internal channel angle and outer arc curvature angle are 135° and 20° correspondingly, which gives an equivalent strain of about 0.46 for each pass. To reduce friction between samples and die, the samples were coated with a mixture of MoS2 and solid graphite powder, and then wrapped by a graphite foil.
Microstructures including average grain size, dislocation structures and deformation twinning of the longitudinal section were observed using JEM-200CX transmission electron microscope (TEM) and S-3400N scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with a Nordlys Nano electron backscattering diffraction (EBSD).
Mechanical properties of annealed and ECAPed samples were evaluated by tensile tests and Vickers microhardness tests at room temperature. Dog-bone tensile samples were cut from the central regions of the pressed billets parallel to the longitu-dinal axes with the gauge length, width and thickness of 12, 3 and 1.5 mm, respectively. Tensile tests were carried out using INSTRON 8801 universal testing machine with a quasi-static strain rate of 1×1
The grain orientation images and TEM micrographs of pure Ti annealed at 923 and 1023 K after 4 passes of ECAP are shown in

Fig.1 Grain orientation images of pure Ti annealed at different temperatures after different ECAP passes: (a) 923 K after 0 pass, (b) 1023 K after 0 pass, (c) 923 K after 1 pass, (d) 1023 K after 1 pass, (e) 923 K after 2 passes, (f) 1023 K after 2 passes, (g) 923 K after 4 passes, and (h) 1023 K after 4 passes

Fig.2 TEM micrographs of pure Ti annealed at different temperatures after different ECAP passes: (a) 923 K after 1 pass, (b) 1023 K after 1 pass, (c) 923 K after 2 passes, (d) 1023 K after 2 passes, (e) 923 K after 4 passes, and (f) 1023 K after 4 passes
It can be seen in TEM micrographs that, equiaxed grains of coarse-grained (CG) Ti are changed to much refined lamellar structures, including parallel shear bands with clear and straight boundaries (
Based on EBSD analysis, grain size distribution of pure Ti with different initial grain sizes, which was annealed at 923 and 1023 K after different passes of ECAP, is shown in

Fig.3 Grain size distribution of pure Ti annealed at 923 K after different ECAP passes: (a) 0 pass, (b) 1 pass, (c) 2 passes, and (d) 4 passes

Fig.4 Grain size distribution of pure Ti annealed at 1023 K after different ECAP passes: (a) 0 pass, (b) 1 pass, (c) 2 passes, and (d) 4 passes
The microstructure is significantly refined both in samples with different initial grain sizes after 4 passes of ECAP. The largest grain refinement ratio appears after 1 pass of ECAP. The average grain sizes of pure Ti annealed at 923 and 1023 K after 4 passes are 2.81 μm and 3.71 μm, and the proportion of grains smaller than 5 μm is 93.37% and 85.83%, respectively. Generally, the grain size will be refined with increasing the ECAP passes, but there is saturation grain size in a certain deformation condition. Zhao has found that pure Ti processed by 6 passes and 8 passes of ECAP has the same average grain size of about 200 nm

Fig.5 Deformation twinning statistics of pure Ti annealed at 923 K (a) and 1023 K (b) followed by different passes of ECAP
Deformation twinning is highly sensitive to grain size, and with increasing the grain size, the activity of deformation twinning increase
The engineering stress-strain curves for pure Ti with different initial grain sizes after different passes of ECAP are displayed in

Fig.6 Engineering stress-strain curves of pure Ti annealed at 923 K (a) and 1023 K (b) followed by ECAP process
The microhardness of pure Ti annealed at 923 and 1023 K is increased by about 55% and 51% after 4 passes of ECAP, respectively, which can be seen in
It is well known that the grain size plays a predominant role in the mechanical properties of metal materials, which is fitted to the Hall-Petch equation (

Fig.7 Relationship of average grain size and yield stress of pure Ti annealed at 923 K (a) and 1023 K (b) followed by ECAP
From the high dislocation density in TEM micrographs (Fig.

Fig.8 EBSD orientation data of special grain boundary distribution characterization for pure Ti annealed at 923 K (a) and 1023 K (b) after 1 pass of ECAP
1) The grains of pure Ti are continuously refined during the ECAP. After 1 pass of ECAP, the pure Ti annealed at 1023 K with a larger initial grain size has a more significant grain refinement effect. After 4 passes of ECAP, the microstructure of pure Ti annealed at 923 K with a smaller initial grain size is finer and more uniform. The samples annealed at 1023 K have average grain size of 3.71 μm and 85.83% grains smaller than 5 μm, while the values are 2.81 μm and 93.37% for samples annealed at 923 K, respectively.
2) During the ECAP, the yield stress and microhardness increase with the increase of ECAP pass, and the increment after 1 pass of ECAP is the largest, which is in agreement with the grain size refinement ratio and the number fraction of deformation twins.
3) The deformation mechanisms of pure Ti are dislocation slips and deformation twinning during the ECAP, the twinning types include , and twins, and the number fraction of deformation twins is affected by the initial grain size. The larger the initial grain size, the easier the deformation twins to activate, and the more deformation twin assisted deformation.
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