Microstructural characteristics in α phase during superplastic deformation of Ti6Al4V

Microstructural characteristics of Ti6Al4V sheet material after tensile superplastic deformation were studied in the temperature range 875–950 °C and at strain rates of 5 × 10−4, 1 × 10−3 and 5 × 10−3 s−1. Specimens water quenched from the deformed state were studied by transmission electron microscopy to understand the dislocation characteristics of the α phase in terms of their generation and glide during superplastic deformation. The microstructural observations were analysed with respect to existing mechanisms and models of superplastic deformation. The effects of phase grain distributions and of the sliding rates of various grain and phase boundaries on the superplastic deformation characteristics are analysed.