Determination of the structure of α-β interfaces in metastable β-Ti alloys

Abstract The crystallography and structure of the interfaces formed between refined hexagonal close packed (hcp) α precipitates and the body centered cubic (bcc) β matrix in a solution-treated and quenched metastable β titanium alloy, Ti-5Al-5Mo-5V-3Cr (wt%, Ti-5553), were investigated after heating to 600 °C and subsequently aging for 0 and 30 min, respectively. The two phases adopted the classical Burgers orientation, and the observed interfacial structures were analyzed using a topological model, i.e. they contained disconnections, as well as β crystal lattice dislocations acting as a lattice invariant deformation (LID). The structure of the α/β interface was observed along two mutually perpendicular directions, in high angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM). Viewed along the [ 0001 ] α : [ 110 ] β directions, an array of disconnections was observed to accommodate the misfit between the α and β crystals. While the spacing of these disconnections varied, the step height associated with them was always twice the { 112 } β interplanar spacing, and their Burgers vector b was [ − 0.019 0.019 0.034 ] β . When the interface was viewed along the [ 1 ¯ 1 ¯ 20 ] α : [ 1 ¯ 11 ] β direction, in the sample aged for 0 min at 600 °C the misfit between the two lattices along [ 0001 ] α : [ 110 ] β was so small that no misfit or lattice invariant dislocations were observed within the field of view, in contrast with the interface structure reported in other more conventional titanium alloys. After aging the sample for 30 min, however, the interfacial structure equilibrated, and crystal lattice dislocations were observed on the terrace planes, accommodating the LID, with b = 1 2 [ 1 ¯ 1 ¯ 1 ¯ ] β . Growth of the α precipitates is shown to occur principally by the emission of disconnections from the tip of the existing α precipitates into the β matrix, and its resulting conversion to α. These results, combined with analysis using the topological model, show that the nucleation and growth of the hcp α phase from the bcc β matrix in this alloy can be described in terms of the motion of disconnections, accompanied by the displacive diffusion necessary to accommodate the differences in composition between the α and β phases.