Creep behaviour and creep microstructures of a high-temperature titanium alloy Ti–5.8Al–4.0Sn–3.5Zr–0.7Nb–0.35Si–0.06C (Timetal 834): Part I. Primary and steady-state creep

The tensile creep behaviour of the high-temperature near α-Ti alloy Ti–5.8Al–4.0Sn–3.5Zr–0.7Nb–0.35Si–0.06C (Timetal 834) with a duplex microstructure has been extensively investigated in the temperature range from 500°C to 625°C and the stress range from 100 to 550 MPa. Both primary and secondary creep are being considered. The results of the primary creep are analysed in terms of the dependencies of stress on strain (strain hardening) and on strain rate (strain rate sensitivity). It is shown that the strain-hardening exponent depends on temperature, and takes values between 0.5 for 500°C and 0.33 for higher temperatures; this would give a dependence of the primary creep strain of σ2 and σ3. The strain rate exponents obtained in both primary and secondary creep have been found to be similar; this is also the case for the activation energies. It is thought that, in the stress and temperature range investigated, creep is controlled by bow-out and climb of dislocation segments pinned at lath boundaries and second-phase particle. Analysis of the dislocation substructure is presented to give some support for this mechanism.