Titanium alloys constitute a very attractive choice for aerospace, aeronautics and biomedical applications mainly due to their excellent strength-to-weight ratio. Classical alloys, such as Ti-6Al-4V, exhibit great mechanical properties but a low hardening capacity. Much efforts have been made to develop new alloys, called beta-metastable titanium alloys, in which the simultaneous activation of Transformation-Induced Plasticity (TRIP) and Twinning-Induced Plasticity (TWIP) effects increases significantly the hardening capacity.

In particular, it has been demonstrated that Ti-12wt %Mo presents a uniform deformation 3 to 4 times larger than classical Ti-6Al-4V alloy. Moreover, an extraordinary resistance to damage has been observed in this alloy as well as a unique fracture mechanism through shear bands instead of the common ductile fracture, dictated by nucleation-growth-coalescence of cavities.

Recent work has demonstrated that Ti-12wt %Mo maintains its good mechanical properties even when porosities are present from the beginning of straining due to a large resistance to coalescence.

In this study, different levels of porosities are considered to assess the influence on mechanical response of Ti-12wt %Mo. The levels of porosities are tuned by sintering, varying from a very small amount comparable to microstructural defects, up to a very large amount, comparable to porous samples.