The influence of oxygen and carbon-content on aging of Ti-15-3

Optical microscopy, analytical transmission microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, and hardness tests have been carried out on quenched samples of Ti-15wt.%V-3wt.%Cr-3wt.%Al-3wt.%Sn containing different levels of oxygen and carbon that were aged at temperatures between 400 and 600 °C. The increase of oxygen content and the addition of carbon (C) increase the kinetics and the magnitude of age hardening. The addition of C greatly reduces the coarse grain boundary precipitation of α. Room temperature deformation has been shown to override compositional differences, and all deformed alloys age harden similarly. The role of oxygen and carbon additions and deformation on aging kinetics are discussed in terms of the factors, such as ω, dislocations, and grain boundary oxygen content that influence α precipitation.