Heat treatment of titanium alloys

The element titanium, Ti in the periodic table, was discovered in 1790. However, the difficulty of its extractive metallurgy meant that industrial production did not begin until the 1950s. Titanium and its alloys have attractive characteristics (low density, good corrosion resistance, high mechanical properties, transformation by conventional processes, non-magnetism...).

Mainly used in the chemical and aeronautical industries, titanium and its alloys also have important applications in the medical sector, thanks to their biocompatibility, and Young's moduli that can be quite low (70 GPa) and quite close to that of bone tissue. Heat treatment plays a key role in the processing of titanium and its alloys.

Having established the basic principles of titanium alloy metallurgy, and in particular the different classes of alloys, it is necessary to characterize the static evolution of the various phases during these treatments. This allows us to introduce the notions of softening and hardening, and thus to attempt to promote more specifically a mechanical property. Finally, the practical aspects of industrial production need to be presented.

Readers are referred to [M 4 780][M 3 160] .