Analysis of the effect of alloy elements on martensitic transformation in titanium alloy with the use of valence electron structure parameters

Research highlights: → Bond length difference analysis for martensite phases in Ti alloys is conducted. → Martensitic transformation is studied with the use of electron structure parameters. → The effect of alloy elements on martensitic tranformatio is analyzed. - Abstract: Because martensitic transformation in titanium alloy significantly affects properties and applications of the alloys, the analysis of the effect of alloy elements on martensitic transformation becomes primarily important. Through using the valence electron structure parameters calculated by the empirical electron theory (EET) of solids and molecules, our analysis results reveal that the addition of alloy elements (such as Zr, Nb, W, Mo, V) has the beneficial effect on the formation of orthorhombic martensite α'' as well as the addition of alloy elements (e.g., Al, Fe, Cr, Sn) has advantage to the formation of hcp-structured martensite α'. Our analysis results not only present the understanding about the effect of alloy elements on martensitic transformation at the electron structure level, but also provide a theoretical basis for the chemical composition design of titanium alloys.