Microstructure and texture evolution in Ti-6Al-4V alloy under different hammer forging processes

Microstructure and texture evolution in Ti-6Al-4V alloy under different hammer forging processes were investigated by electron backscattered diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that the inicrostructure became more and more uniform along with the frequency of forging, and the directionality turned more and more invisible; after heat treatment, the distribu-tion uniformity of α and β phases and the micro-texture were both increased to somewhat extent because of the release of deformation energy and the tilting of α and β phases, especially highlighted in the forging modes of uniaxial 3 times and cross upsetting and stretching 3 times. As for the texture distribution of this alloy, the close-packed hexagonal structured α phase was more sensitive to hot working modes than the body centered α phase. For raw materials and one-time axial upsetting and stretching, the texture of α phase mainly consisted of the {0001 } basal texture; with the increase of frequency and deformation energy, the {1010} and {1120} prismatic slip and the {1011} and {1212} pyramidal slip were strengthened, accordingly inducing the more uniform of orientation because of the texture components and the dispersion of texture distribution.