Hot Deformation Behavior of a Beta Metastable TMZF Alloy: Microstructural and Constitutive Phenomenological Analysis

A metastable beta TMZF alloy was tested by isothermal compression under different conditions of deformation temperature (923 to 1173 K), strain rate (0.172, 1.72, and 17.2 s−1), and a constant strain of 0.8. Stress–strain curves, constitutive constants calculations, and microstructural analysis were performed to understand the alloy’s hot working behavior in regards to the softening and hardening mechanisms operating during deformation. The primary softening mechanism was dynamic recovery, promoting dynamic recrystallization delay during deformation at higher temperatures and low strain rates. Mechanical twinning was an essential deformation mechanism of this alloy, being observed on a nanometric scale. Spinodal decomposition evidence was found to occur during hot deformation. Different models of phenomenological constitutive equations were tested to verify the effectiveness of flow stress prediction. The stress exponent n, derived from the strain-compensated Arrhenius-type constitutive model, presented values that point to the occurrence of internal stress at the beginning of the deformation, related to complex interactions of dislocations and dispersed phases.