Effect of strain rate on stress-induced martensitic formation and the compressive properties of Ti–V–(Cr,Fe)–Al alloys

The effect of strain rate on the stress required to trigger stress-induced martensitic (SIM) transformation and the compressive properties of three titanium alloys (Ti–10V–2Fe–3Al, Ti–10V–2Cr–3Al, Ti–10V–1Fe–3Al) has been investigated for strain rates ranging from 1×10−1 s−1 to 1×10−4 s−1. The heat treated grades exhibited SIM transformation at all the strain rates applied. I was found that the triggering stress for SIM transformation (yield stress) and failure strain increased continuously with increasing strain rate. The compression strength was found to increase first and then to decrease with increasing strain rate. Grades not showing the SIM effect showed similar trends except in their compression strength.