Micromechanical behavior of multilayered Ti/Nb composites processed by accumulative roll bonding: An in-situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction investigation

Heterophase interfaces play a crucial role in deformation microstructures and thus govern mechanical properties of multilayered composites. Here, we fabricated Ti/Nb multilayers by accumulative roll bonding (ARB) where shear bands became predominant with increasing rolling cycles. To explore correlation between micromechanical behavior and mechanical properties of the composites with various lamellar morphologies, in-situ high-energy X-ray diffraction tensile tests were performed. The results quantitatively reveal that the rapid strengthening of the composites with increasing ARB cycles mainly originates from the Nb layers strengthened by dislocations, grain boundaries and heterophase interfaces, and the {211} grains mostly contribute to the global strain hardening. The softer Ti grains also extend global strain hardening to a wide range and postpone necking. Furthermore, complete stress state analysis show that in the presence of extensive shear bands, significant load partitioning between the neighboring metals leads to triaxial stresses in each constituent and dislocations tend to slip along the shear direction. This promotes dislocation multiplication and motion, which is conducive to overall strength enhancement while maintaining a satisfactory ductility. These findings elucidate the effect of strong constraints of the interfaces on mechanical properties, which provides a fundamental understanding of load partitioning and strengthening mechanisms of the multilayers processed by multiple ARB cycles.