Three-dimensional microstructure-based micromechanical modeling for TC6 titanium alloy

A new in-depth evaluation of the micromechanical response of TC6 (Ti-6Al-1.5Cr-2.5Mo-0.5Fe-0.3Si) titanium alloy subjected to uniaxial tensile loading is performed based on micromechanical modeling. This evaluation includes reconstruction of the three-dimensional annealed microstructure (annealing at 800 °C for 2 h, then air cooled) of the alloy via dual-energy micro-computed tomography. In addition, constitutive relations of the constituent phases were determined via synchrotron-based in-situ high-energy X-ray diffraction and a self-consistent model as well as nanoindentation tests combined with finite element modeling. The results revealed that the stress concentration was translated from the primary α phase to the secondary α phase, then to the β phase. Moreover, the stress generated was re-transferred to the primary α phase when the strain was increased from 0.00 to 0.05. This transfer is indicative of crack initiation in the primary α grains.