The Effect of the Cryogenic Coupled Electric Pulse Treatment on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of TC4 Titanium Alloy

In this work, a new treatment of cryogenic coupled electric pulse treatment (CEPT) is proposed to modify the microstructure and the mechanical properties of the TC4 titanium alloy. The lag of the microstructure evolution is observed in the CEPT samples compared with the electric pulse treatment (EPT) sample. The CEPT sample shows a lower volume fraction of the β phase and finer grain size. This may relate to the suppression of the Joule heating effect of electric pulses by the addition of a cryogenic field. The CEPT sample shows a higher tensile strength than the EPT sample when treated at the same time. With the increase in treatment time, the tensile strength of the two treatment samples shows an increasing tendency. While the elongation of the samples is decreased, it is worth noting that the elongation of the CEPT samples decreases more slowly compared to the EPT samples. In general, CEPT can effectively regulate the microstructure and mechanical properties of titanium alloy and has great potential in the industrial field.