Phase transformation kinetics of ω-phase in pure Ti formed by high-pressure torsion

High-pressure torsion (HPT) process is the only method which can obtain a 100 vol% of high-pressure ω-phase sample at ambient condition in pure Ti. In this paper, the mechanism of ω-phase stabilization by the HPT process is discussed on the basis of the reverse phase transformation kinetics of ω-phase in pure titanium formed by the HPT process and then measured using electrical resistivity and calorimetric experiments. The single ω-phase sample showed much higher electrical resistivity of 0.95 μΩ m at 350 K compared with that of the single α-phase sample (0.62 μΩ m). The ω-to-α reverse transformation behavior was clearly observed through both electrical resistivity and calorimetric measurements. The activation energy for ω-to-α reverse transformation, derived from the kinetics, showed a value close to that for the self-diffusion of Ti. The ω-phase obtained after the HPT process has an equiaxed submicron microstructure. The microstructure of reverse transformed α-phase showed no evidence of the occurrence of martensitic transformation. These results suggest that the mechanism governing ω-to-α phase transformation changed from diffusionless martensitic transformation to diffusion-controlled transformation after severe plastic deformation using the HPT process.