Effect of inhomogeneous plastic deformation on the interfacial microstructure and properties of titanium/stainless steel

To solve the problem of low interfacial bonding strength caused by the violent reaction of the titanium/stainless steel interface, the corrugated rolling-flat rolling (CFR) process was used to introduce inhomogeneous plastic deformation, and the titanium/stainless steel was prepared. The interface morphology and strain distribution characteristics of flat rolling (FR) and CFR titanium/stainless steel were studied in comparison. The effect of the inhomogeneous plastic deformation on interfacial microstructure and properties was investigated, and the intrinsic mechanism was revealed. The results show that FR titanium/stainless steel interface is relatively flat and exists in a large number of continuous intermetallic compounds. The interfacial bonding strength is at a low level. In CFR titanium/stainless steel, the interface shows a wave-shape and has few intermetallic compounds. The interfacial bonding strength of the peak, waist and trough are all above 240 MPa. The continuous intermetallic compounds of FR titanium/stainless steel split the interface, leading to low interfacial bonding strength. In the CFR process, the strong inhomogeneous plastic deformation effect reduces the generation of continuous intermetallic compounds at the interface. Meanwhile, the increase of deformation storage energy improves the interfacial metallurgical bonding effect. In combination with the effect of a larger interfacial contact area, a high level of interfacial bonding strength is achieved. The CFR process is an effective way to prepare titanium/stainless steel with excellent interfacial bonding strength.