The Effect of Cryogenic Treatment on the Microstructure and Properties of Ti-6Al-4V Titanium Alloy

The effect of cryogenic treatment on the microstructure and properties of Ti-6Al-4V has been studied in this paper. The program controlled SLX cryogenic box was used to conduct the cryogenic treatment and the subsequent low temperature temper. The scanning electron microscope was used to study the morphology of microstructure and fracture surface. As the results show that the cryogenic treatment increases the elongation of Ti-6Al-4V from 16.5 percent to 24.5 percent, at the same time, the strength increases slightly, this indicates that cryogenic treatment can improve the comprehensive mechanical properties. The microstructure measurement revealed that there is a tendency of reduction in the precipitated particles after cryogenic treatment. The cross section is flat and the size of dimples is more uniform. It is concluded that the change in the precipitation particle had a great influence in the mechanical properties.