Characteristics of the tensile flow behavior of Ti–46Al–9Nb sheet material – Analysis of thermally activated processes of plastic deformation

Flow behavior, strain hardening and activation parameters, i.e. activation volume, stress exponents and normalized free enthalpy of activation, of Ti–46Al–9Nb sheet with near-gamma microstructure have been investigated in tension tests between 700 and 1000 °C. The dependence of yield stress on temperature and strain rate, the course of the strain hardening curves and the values of activation parameters show that thermally activated dislocation mechanisms are mainly involved in the tensile deformation process of the investigated material. At constant temperature the value of the activation volume depends both on plastic strain and strain rate. The activation volume generally decreases with increasing strain. The decrease is particularly well observable for higher strain rates, thus indicating a growing role of thermally activated climb mechanisms governing the process of dynamic recovery. The activation volume calculated for a constant plastic strain (2% in case of this study) is a function of temperature and strain rate. At lower deformation rates, or alternatively at higher temperatures, the activation volume increases. Such behavior indicates a decrease in dislocation density due to the onset of dynamic recrystallization. The analysis of stress exponents and the obtained free enthalpy of activation confirm that different thermally activated processes are acting during deformation under the tensile test conditions studied.