Electroplastic Effect in Titanium Under Compression

As is known, the electroplastic effect (EPE) manifests itself in the reduction of flow stress and/or the increase of plasticity during deformation of metals while simultaneously passing an electric current through them. The study of this effect in various metals, including pure titanium, which possesses biocompatibility with organic environments and corrosion resistance, is of particular interest. This makes titanium widely used in medicine, aerospace engineering, and other fields. Traditionally, the effect is studied under tensile conditions, and in some cases, also under other deformation schemes. The aim of this study is to investigate the peculiarities of the deformation behavior of coarse-grained Grade 4 titanium under compression and the influence of pulsed current on it. When using a high duty cycle current (Q = 5000), jumps in the reduction of stress are observed on the compression deformation curve. If low duty cycle current (Q = 10) is used during compression, the intensity of strain hardening, yield strength, and flow stress become lower than those during compression without current. Microhardness measurements were carried out, which consistently increased during compression compared to the initial state, although the increase was less intense when using high duty cycle current. The structural features of titanium after compression with and without current were investigated: the intensity of deformation processes decreases when current is applied. During compression, fragmentation of second phase particles is observed, with the action of current leading to their partial dissolution. A comparison of EPE during compression and tension was conducted. Their qualitative similarity was noted, but this effect is more pronounced during compression. The obtained results can be used to develop technological processes for the electroplastic deformation of titanium.