Effects of electron beam heat input on microstructure and micro-hardness of Ti-24Al-15Nb-1.5Mo/TC11 dual alloys

Microstructure evolution characterization of the Ti-24Al-15Nb-1.5Mo/TC11 dual alloys welded joints obtained on the condition of different electron beam heat input was studied by optical microscope, scanning electron microscope, energy spectrum and micro-hardness analysis. The results show that the energy input have an important effect on the microstructure, grain size, micro-hardness and alloy elements content of welded joints. The microstructure is made up of homogeneous acicular martensite α' phase in fusion zone(FZ) and the average micro-hardness value is 447HV when heat input E=135 kJ/m is utilized. With heat input increasing to 150 kJ/m, the number of α' phase decreases in FZ, short acicular α+β phase become coarser in heat-affected zone(HAZ) of TC11, coarse β grains become larger in HAZ of Ti-24Al-15Nb-1.5Mo and the average micro-hardness value drops to 402HV. The result is attributed to the changed content of alloy elements and lower cooling velocity caused by increasing heat input. The content of element Ti, Al and Nb is changed abruptly in the boundary of the joint, but these elements evenly distribute in each zone and hardly diffuse.