Shear-Banding Evolution Dynamics during High Temperature Compression of Martensitic Ti-6Al-4V Alloy

The isothermal compression dynamics of ternary Ti-6Al-4V alloy with initial martensitic structures were investigated in the high temperature range 1083–1173 K and moderate strain rate regime 0.01–10 s^-1. Shear banding was found to still dominate the deformation mechanism of this process, despite its nonadiabatic feature. The constitutive equation was derived with the aid of Zener–Hollomon parameter, which predicted the apparent activation energy as 534.39 kJ/mol. A combination of higher deformation temperature and lower strain rate suppressed the peak flow stress and promoted the evolution of shear bands. Both experiments and calculations demonstrated that a conspicuous temperature rise up to 83 K could be induced by severe plastic deformation. This facilitated the dynamic recrystallization of deformed martensites, as evidenced by the measured microhardness profiles across shear bands.