Effect of high density electropulsing treatment on formability of TC4 titanium alloy sheet

An annealed TC4 titanium alloy sheet was treated by high density electropulsing (Jmax=(5.09-5.26)×103 A/mm2, tp=110 μs) under ambient conditions. The effect of electropulsing treatment(EPT) on the plastic deformation behavior of TC4 titanium alloy sheet was studied using uniaxial tension tests. The experimental results indicate that electropulsing treatment significantly changes the mechanical properties of sheet metal: the uniform elongation is increased by 35%, the yield stress is decreased by 19.8% and the yield to tensile ratio is decreased by 17.6%. It is of significant meaning to improve the formability of TC4 titanium alloy sheet. The optical microscope and scanning electron microscope(SEM) were used to examine the changes of the microstructure and the fracture morphology before and after the electropulsing treatment. It is found that recrystallization occurs in the sheet metal and dimples in fracture surface are large and deep after the electropulsing treatment. The research results show that the electropulsing treatment is an effective method to improve the formability of titanium alloy sheets.