Tailoring texture in a near-α titanium alloy: Insights from strain paths and cooling rate influences

By elucidating the progressive relationship from the rolling stress state to the activation of slip systems and then to lattice rotation, this paper clarifies the influence mechanism of strain paths on the evolution of α-phase texture in near-α titanium alloys. The distinct rolling textures obtained further provide a robust foundation for investigating whether the competition between different α-phase textures changes with varying cooling rates during β→α phase transformation. In this study, initial Ti65 alloy sheets underwent rolling using three different strain paths (UDR/CDR/MSCR), resulting in the production of three foils characterized by distinct textures. Compressive stress during rolling promotes the activation of basal and pyramidal-II slipping, leading to the formation of a TD-split basal texture in α-phase. Tensile stress during rolling promotes the activation of prismatic slipping, ultimately resulting in a [10 1‾ 0]//RD (in the case of UDR) or [21‾1‾ 0]//RD (in the case of CDR) texture. Variations in stress states along different strain paths led to differences in the global Schmid factor distribution of α-phase for slip systems, ultimately resulting in diverse texture evolution. Subsequently, foil samples underwent two-phase region heat treatments, followed by furnace cooling and air cooling. After furnace cooling, the strength of the transverse texture increased in each type of foils. Conversely, after air cooling, no specific α-phase texture consistently exhibited an increasing trend in the three foils.