Abstract: Multi-phase V-Ti-Ni alloys containing V-rich phases and eutectic Ni-Ti compounds can achieve a good balance between hydrogen permeability and hydrogen embrittlement resistance, so that they have broad application prospects in the field of hydrogen separation membranes. However, such alloys have large resistance for deformation, easiness to oxidize, and difficulty for low temperature forming. In order to improve the formability and rolling efficiency, and to reduce the manufacturing cost of alloy membranes, heat treatment and electricplastic rolling were carried out for multiphase V₆₀Ti₂₀Ni₂₀ alloy, and then the influence of pulse current density on the microstructure, rollability and microhardness of the alloy during rolling was studied by means of optical microscope, scanning electron microscope, energy spectrometer, X-ray diffractometer and Vickers microhardness tester. The results show that the electricplastic rolling can effectively improve the rollability of the alloy by increasing the single-pass rolling ultimate reduction to 13.3%, which is an increase of 155% compared with that of the cold rolling of heat-treated alloy. During the electroplastic rolling process, as the pulse current density increases, the microstructure of the alloy deforms more uniformly, the rheological direction of the microstructure is more consistent, and the microhardness of the alloy decreases, which is due to the electroplastic effect promotes dislocation movement during rolling process, resulting a reduction of the dislocation entanglement.

Key words: V-Ti-Ni alloy, electroplastic rolling, microstructure, rollability, hardness