Electron backscatter diffraction analysis of the crack development induced by uniaxial tension in commercially pure titanium

Pure titanium with a duplex microstructure was used in this work to characterize the fracture mechanisms that occurred during quasi-static tensile loading at room temperature. The duplex microstructure was composed of α grains decorated by a small fraction of β phase along the grain boundaries and at triple junctions. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) was performed to systematically characterize the crack development across approximately 103 grains. It has been found that the fracture mechanism involves both transgranular and intergranular cracking. Transgranular cracking is a much more common fracture mechanism. By comparing EBSD data with simulations, it was possible to denote the most probable crystallographic planes in hcp grains susceptible to transgranular cracking. Intergranular failure unambiguously prefers general grain boundaries, and all coincidence site lattice (CSL) boundaries are more resistant.