An optimal design of a high strength,ductile metallic Material: Criteria and application to a α-titanium alloy

One means of optimizing high strength and high ductility in metals can be characterized on the basis of five criteria: a metastable, single-phase fcc or bc starting material; a low strain-hardening exponent and good workability; a low stacking-fault energy and high recovery temperature ; a hardening mechanism active below the recovery temperature ; and a low sensitivity of flow stress to temperature. By application of these criteria, thermo-mechanical processing of aβ-titanium alloy has resulted in a material with an ultimate tensile strength in excess of 320,000 psi with 15 pct RA, exhibiting ductile behavior at elastic strains greater than 2 pct.