High temperature deformation behavior of the TC6 titanium alloy under the uniform DC electric field

High temperature deformation behavior of the TC6 titanium alloy under the uniform direct current (DC) electric field was investigated in this study. Based on the physical properties and the equilibrium phase diagrams calculated by the JMatPro metallic material analysis software, the effects of electric field on the mechanical properties of the TC6 and the underlying mechanism were analyzed. The results show that the ductility and failure strain of TC6 at 600 °C (around the recrystallization temperature) are improved about 100% due to the promotion effect of “electron wind” on the dislocation, showing a rather good potential for future practical applications. However, the ductility of TC6 is decreased when the electric field is applied at 900 °C because of its special effect on the phase transformation. Under the action of the DC electric field, the strength of TC6 increases about 15% at the temperature of 700–900 °C, indicating that the electric filed also affects the phase transformation within such temperature range. In addition, the elastic modulus of TC6 is decreased about 50% when the external electric field is applied at 600 °C. It is found for the first time that the electric field can change the elastic deformation behavior of metallic materials apparently under some special conditions.