Influence of melt hydrogenation during induction skull melting process on the solidification microstructure of Ti-6Al-4V alloy

A new method to modify the solidification microstructure of titanium alloys, named melt hydrogenation,by adding TiH2 as additive into the melt of titanium alloys during induction skull melting process (ISM), is put forward and the refining effect of this method on the solidification microstructure of Ti-6Al-4V alloy was studied experimentally. After melt hydrogenation, the grain sizes of as-cast Ti-6Al-4V alloy decreased to 612 μm from 1,072 μm, lath-shaped a phase was also refined and fine α/β lamellar microstructure was formed when 1.0 wt.% TiH2 was added.δ-hydride was found in the X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra of Ti-6Al-4V alloy that prepared with 1.0 wt.% TiH2 added and the δ-hydride distributes in α phase as acicular precipitations.