Analysis of anisotropy mechanism in the mechanical property of titanium alloy tube formed through hot flow forming

Anisotropy of mechanical property is an important feature influencing the service performance of titanium (Ti) alloy tube component. In this work, it is found that the hot flow formed Ti alloy tube exhibits higher yield strength along circumferential direction (CD), and larger elongation along rolling direction (RD), presenting significant anisotropy. Subsequently, the quantitative characteristics and underlying mechanism of the property anisotropy were revealed by analyzing the slip, damage and fracture behavior under the combined effects of the spun {0002} basal texture and fibrous microstructure for different loading directions. The results showed that the prismatic slip in primary α grain is the dominant deformation mechanism for both loading directions at the yielding stage. The prismatic slip is harder under CD loading, which makes CD loading present higher yield strength than RD loading. Additionally, the yield anisotropy can be quantified through the inverse ratio of the averaged Schmid Factor of the activated prismatic slip under different loading directions. As for the plasticity anisotropy, the harder and slower slip development under CD loading causes that the CD loading presents larger external force and normal stress on slip plane, thus leading to more significant cleavage fracture than RD loading. Moreover, the micro-crack path under RD loading is more tortuous than CD loading because the fibrous microstructure is elongated along RD, which may suppress the macro fracture under RD loading. These results suggest that weakening the texture and fibrous morphology of microstructure is critical to reduce the differences in slip, damage and fracture behavior along different directions, alleviate the property anisotropy and optimize the service performance of Ti alloy tube formed by hot flow forming.