Effect of alloy composition on the volume fraction of beta phase in duplex titanium alloys

Titanium alloys are strong, light, corrosion resistant and superplastic. While many of them show superplastic behavior, working and forging temperatures are still high, 850-925 degree C, and their range is narrow. Moreover, the material's resistance to deformation is not negligible and, therefore, the cost of making dies and presses for forging or hot deformation is high and it poses a serious problem. To increase the efficiency and to reduce the temperature of hot deformation, increasing the volume fraction of the beta phase present in duplex titanium alloys is suggested. With the introduction of the beta-modified Ti-6Al-4V alloy the decrease in the temperature and the increase in the strain rate of the superplastic regime promise to make superplastic forming of this alloy even more economical, and many researches have been made. In this study, efforts are put on designing new duplex alloys based on the Ti-6Al-4V and Ti-Al-Fe systems, which will have a beta volume fraction of 40-50 percent at around 800 degree C. To accomplish this, experimental volume fractions of the beta phase in several titanium alloys are being compared with predicted and calculated ones using phase equilibria analyses and some suggestions will be made on modifying the alloy compositions. For comparison, the quaternary Ti-V-Fe-Al system and their subsystems are chosen due to availability of both experimental and thermodynamic data