Mapping of elastic stiffness in an alpha+beta titanium alloy using atomic force acoustic microscopy

The present study reports for the first time the mapping of elastic stiffness of different phases in a structural metallic material with lateral resolution of less than 100 nm. The distribution of elastic stiffness across the alpha, beta, and alpha' phases in Ti-6Al-4V alloy has been studied using atomic force acoustic microscopy. The experimentally obtained indentation modulus Values for the various phases in the titanium alloy are compared with those estimated in literature. The effect of crystallographic orientation of phases oil the indentation modulus is also discussed.