Effect of Transient Heat Treatment on the Interfacial Microstructure and Bonding Properties of Titanium/Steel Transit Joint

doi:10.11900/0412.1961.2024.00441

Acta Metall Sin

2026, Vol. 62

Issue (9): 1528-1540 DOI: 10.11900/0412.1961.2024.00441

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Effect of Transient Heat Treatment on the Interfacial Microstructure and Bonding Properties of Titanium/Steel Transit Joint

SU Yiyun¹, HAO Xiaohu¹^,², LI Shuhua², CUI Zeqin¹(

), YAN Dejun³(

), LI Weiguo¹

1 College of Materials Science and Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
2 Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding Technology for Ships, CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., Guangzhou 510715, China
3 Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding Technology for Ships, Foshan University, Foshan 528051, China

Cite this article:

SU Yiyun, HAO Xiaohu, LI Shuhua, CUI Zeqin, YAN Dejun, LI Weiguo. Effect of Transient Heat Treatment on the Interfacial Microstructure and Bonding Properties of Titanium/Steel Transit Joint. Acta Metall Sin, 2026, 62(9): 1528-1540.

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Abstract

During the secondary welding process of titanium-steel hybrid structures for ships, repeated thermal cycles inevitably change the interfacial microstructure and mechanical properties of explosive-welded transit joints. These changes directly affect the bonding strength of hybrid structures and navigational safety of ships. Herein, simulated transient heat treatment (STHT) was adopted to study the relationship among temperature, interfacial microstructure, and bonding properties of a titanium-steel hybrid structures during the secondary welding process. Results showed that when the STHT temperature was <600 ^oC, the interfacial microstructure remained stable. Meanwhile, at ≥ 700 ^oC, recrystallization occurred, causing grains near the interface to become coarse. Furthermore, the thickness of the intermetallic compound layer comprising FeTi and TiC increased rapidly. Unlike aluminum-steel hybrid structures, in which the interfacial bonding strength monotonically decreases with increasing temperature, the bonding and shear strengths of the titanium-steel hybrid structures initially increased and then decreased, with peaks appearing at 500 and 600 ^oC. The thermal effect at medium and low temperatures promoted atomic diffusion and stress release, thereby improving the interfacial bonding strength. At high temperatures, grain coarsening and intermetallic compound growth decreased the bonding strength of the transit joint. Overall, the critical threshold temperature at the interface of the titanium-steel hybrid structures is 600 ^oC.

Key words: transient heat treatment titanium/steel joint recrystallization interfacial microstructure bonding property

Received: 26 December 2024

ZTFLH:

TG142.4

Fund: National Natural Science Foundation of China(52105389);China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(2023M743270);Shanxi Province Patent Transformation Project(202402002);Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding Technology for Ships(2023B1212070026)

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	SU Yiyun
	HAO Xiaohu
	LI Shuhua
	CUI Zeqin
	YAN Dejun
	LI Weiguo

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https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/10.11900/0412.1961.2024.00441 OR https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/Y2026/V62/I9/1528

Fig.1 Illustrations of the experiment process
(a) explosive welding (V_d—detonation velocity, V_c—impact velocity, V_p—plate collision velocity, β—impact angle)
(b) simulated transient heat treatment (STHT) experiment
(c1, c2) shear strength (c1) and bonding strength (c2) tests (F—applied force)

Table 1 Chemical compositions of TA2 pure titanium and 907 steel

Fig.2 SEM images showing the interfacial microstructures (a1-d1), enlarged images of the straight interface (a2-d2), and enlarged images of non-straight interface (a3-d3) in titanium/steel transit joint as-welded (a1-a3) and after STHT under 400 ^oC (b1-b3), 600 ^oC (c1-c3), and 700 ^oC (d1-d3)

Fig.3 EDS line scanning results of the non-straight interface in titanium/steel transit joint as-welded (a) and after STHT under 400 ^oC (b), 600 ^oC (c), and 700 ^oC (d)

Table 2 EDS spot scanning elemental analysis results of positions 1-20 in Fig.2

Fig.4 Inverse pole figures (IPFs) of the interface in titanium/steel transit joint as-welded (a) and after STHT under 600 ^oC (b) and 700 ^oC (c)

Fig.5 Pole figures (PFs) of titanium/steel transit joint for steel side (a1-c1) and Ti side (a2-c2) as-welded (a1, a2) and after STHT under 600 ^oC (b1, b2), and 700 ^oC (c1, c2) (TD—transverse direction, RD—rolling direction)

Fig.6 EBSD images (a, c, e) and grain boundary misorientation distributions (b, d, f) of the interface in titanium/steel transit joint as-welded (a, b) and after STHT under 600 ^oC (c, d) and 700 ^oC (e, f) (The black and red lines denote the high angle grain boundaries (HAGBs) with misorientation angle > 15° and low angle grain boundaries (LAGBs) with misorientation angle 2°-15°, respectively)

Fig.7 Kernel average misorientation (KAM) maps (a, c, e) and average misorientation distributions (b, d, f) of the interface in titanium/steel transit joint as-welded (a, b) and after STHT under 600 ^oC (c, d) and 700 ^oC (e, f)

Fig.8 Structural characteristics (a1-c1), statistical results of the corresponding recrystallizd, substructured, and deformed proportions of the steel side (a2-c2) and titanium side (a3-c3) of titanium/steel transit joint as-welded (a1-a3) and after STHT under 600 ^oC (b1-b3) and 700 ^oC (c1-c3)

Fig.9 Bonding strengths (a) and shear strengths (b) of the interface in titanium/steel transit joint as-welded and after STHT under different temperatures

Fig.10 SEM images showing the fracture morphologies (a-c) and fracture positions (d-f) of titanium/steel transit joint as-welded (a, d) and after STHT under 600 ^oC (b, e) and 700 ^oC (c, f) (Insets in Figs.10a1-a3 and Figs.10d-f show the locally enlarged images of square regions and EDS mappings, respectively)

Table 3 EDS spot scanning elemental results of positions 1-3 in Fig.10

Fig.11 SEM images showing the nanoindentation test locations (a-c) and nano-hardness maps (d-f) of titanium/steel joint as-welded (a, d) and after STHT under 600 ^oC (b, e) and 700 ^oC (c, f)

Fig.12 Nanoindentation load-displacement curves (a) of FeTi, α-Ti, and α-Fe phases and the corresponding modulus of elasticity (b) of as-welded titanium/steel joint

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