Microstructures and mechanical deformation behaviors of ultrafine-grained commercial pure (grade 3) Ti processed by two-step severe plastic deformation

Ultrafine-grained (UFG) commercial pure (CP, grade 3) Ti was produced using two-step severe plastic deformation, eight passes equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE) and cold rolling (CR) at liquid nitrogen temperature (LNT). Microstructural evolution and mechanical behaviors of UFG CP-Ti have been systematically investigated. After eight passes ECAE, the grain size was refined to sub-micron scale, smaller than 0.5 μm. Subsequent CR at LNT or RT for both UFG and coarse-grained (CG) specimens led to further refinement of structure, dramatically intensifying (0 0 0 2) peak, and the preferred orientation along the (0 0 0 2) crystal plane is formed at the expense of other crystal plane. After eight passes ECAE and CR at LNT, the ultimate tensile strength of UFG CP-Ti (grade 3) is 1218 MPa, and an elongation of 12.6%. Strain hardening behaviors of UFG CP-Ti (grade 3) during tensile deformation at RT have been analyzed.