Residual elastic stress–strain field and geometrically necessary dislocation density distribution around nano-indentation in TA15 titanium alloy

Nanoindentation and high resolution electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) were combined to examine the elastic modulus and hardness of α and β phases, anisotropy in residual elastic stress–strain fields and distributions of geometrically necessary dislocation (GND) density around the indentations within TA15 titanium alloy. The nano-indention tests were conducted on α and β phases, respectively. The residual stress–strain fields surrounding the indentation were calculated through cross-correlation method from recorded patterns. The GND density distribution around the indentation was calculated based on the strain gradient theories to reveal the micro-mechanism of plastic deformation. The results indicate that the elastic modulus and hardness for α phase are 129.05 GPas and 6.44 GPa, while for β phase, their values are 109.80 GPa and 4.29 GPa, respectively. The residual Mises stress distribution around the indentation is relatively heterogeneous and significantly influenced by neighboring soft β phase. The region with low residual stress around the indentation is accompanied with markedly high 〈a〉 type and prismatic-GND density.