Solution treatment-delayed zirconium-strengthening behavior in Ti-7.5Mo-xZr alloy system

The present study was devoted to investigate and compare the Zr-strengthening behavior in as-cast (AC) and solution-treated (ST) Ti-7.5Mo-xZr alloys. The experimental results indicated that AC Ti-7.5Mo and AC Ti-7.5Mo-1Zr alloys substantially had an orthorhombic phase with a fine, acicular morphology. The content of equi-axed β phase continued to increase with increased Zr content at the expense of phase. The threshold Zr content for the formation of β phase in the ST Ti-7.5Mo-xZr alloys was apparently higher than that in the AC Ti-7.5Mo-xZr alloys. The β granular structure was revealed in ST Ti-7.5Mo-5Zr alloy, which increased with increased Zr content. Unlike AC Ti-7.5Mo-9Zr alloy, within each grain of ST Ti-7.5Mo-9Zr alloy were still observed a significant portion of morphology. AC Ti-7.5Mo alloy had the lowest YS, lowest tensile modulus and highest elongation among all AC Ti-7.5Mo-xZr alloys. When Zr content increased, both YS and modulus significantly increased while the elongation significantly decreased. Compared to AC Ti-7.5Mo alloy, AC Ti-7.5Mo-9Zr alloy had almost double YS, indicating the effectiveness of Zr-induced strengthening in the AC Ti-7.5Mo-xZr alloys. Compared to AC Ti-7.5Mo, ST Ti-7.5Mo alloys had lower YS, UTS and tensile modulus with almost the same elongation. All the XRD, metallography and tensile test results consistently indicated that the presence of Zr could accelerate the formation of β phase and effectively strengthen the AC Ti-7.5Mo-xZr alloys. A phenomenon of delayed β formation and delayed strengthening was noted in the ST Ti-7.5Mo-xZr alloys, compared to the AC Ti-7.5Mo-xZr alloys.